It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Tamkin Guseynov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Araz Garayev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Qara Ozobic 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cédric Gasser 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salman Ələsqərov, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Araz Garayev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the AZAL dressing room was either.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Neftchi? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cédric Gasser was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Araz Garayev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Federico Pirruccio is on it.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Gennady Potapov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Khazar, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
The goal that put Khazar ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when AZAL equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Dimitrij Bayramov 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Gabala kept coming because nothing stopped them, and AZAL will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Marked 7.66 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Qara Ozobic 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Cédric Gasser 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.
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
8 goals in one match, Qara Ozobic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AZAL and Ravan.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Tamkin Guseynov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Araz Garayev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mykyta Shakhmaev is living that version at AZAL, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cédric Gasser was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon AZAL had all but put away. Inter will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AZAL has been clear about where Dimitrij Bayramov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Qara Ozobic will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at AZAL escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ravan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
AZAL close the window on a squad of their own making
25 in and 24 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Kamran Nadirov is a AZAL player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dimitrij Bayramov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Angers SCO is saying, and nobody at AZAL is enjoying the guessing.
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Shahriyar Mammadov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Araz Ramazanov clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Zira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dimitrij Nadirov has just signed for AZAL, and for once the answer mattered.
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ravan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vugar Madatov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AZAL people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Sambenedettese, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gabala keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Khazar have kept their man, and AZAL go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
AZAL have made the call to Sambenedettese. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
114 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Zira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
AZAL asked and Khazar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Namig Ozobic 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.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AZAL have done the hard part with Basel, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 8 and 17 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AZAL people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Qarabag keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Elnur Mustafayev is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AZAL they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Afran Khalilzade has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ravan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AZAL is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Afran Nazarov was one of the reasons people came, and $4.0M does not replace that by itself.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gabala keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Port Vale have kept their man, and AZAL go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AZAL have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Neftchi keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Qara Ozobic 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.
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.
AZAL asked and Rapid Wien said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
With 4 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AZAL told Stéphane Acka something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Araz Ramazanov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Position 8 and 17 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tamkin Guseynov 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.
Namig Ozobic 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Boye Hedeman has, at AZAL, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Ümid Səmədov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means AZAL have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Dimitrij Bayramov 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.
Nobody at AZAL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee AZAL could ask drops and the wages Agil Huseynov can ask rise.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Afran Nazarov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Namig Ozobic signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vugar Jafarov and AZAL agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 May 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
Nobody at AZAL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AZAL know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Cavid Mammadov is 34, with 41 appearances behind him, and AZAL will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
Qara Ozobic 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.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maksim Sheydaev is on it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
Tamkin Guseynov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nobody at AZAL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maksim Sheydaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Tamkin Guseynov 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dimitrij Nazarov is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Namig Ozobic signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 8 and 17 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AZAL, another week without a signature from Agil Huseynov.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AZAL can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Qara Ozobic is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AZAL know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bradley Mundy 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Afran Nazarov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maksim Sheydaev is on it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
With 4 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Qara Ozobic signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dimitrij Nazarov is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Namig Ozobic signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Position 8 and 17 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.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Federico Pirruccio and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Qara Ozobic 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
Tamkin Guseynov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Qara Ozobic signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee AZAL could ask drops and the wages Agil Huseynov can ask rise.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stéphane Acka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Namig Ozobic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dimitrij Nazarov is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Namig Ozobic signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at AZAL would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AZAL can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Michel Estela and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Qara Ozobic is on it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
AZAL close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Swindon Town, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Tamkin Guseynov reports back to AZAL with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Martim Silva is living that version at AZAL, and it tends to show in the first month.
Namig Ozobic 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Qarabag is saying, and nobody at AZAL is enjoying the guessing.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
Pro Vercelli have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Khazar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AZAL they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and AZAL now know that too.
Position 8 and 17 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AZAL will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
AZAL and Qarabag have settled on $55.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Neftchi is saying, and nobody at AZAL is enjoying the guessing.
The deal with Red Bull Salzburg is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The phone has started ringing about Cavid Mammadov again, and this time the name on the line is Andijon. AZAL are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. James Kay is living that version at AZAL, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AZAL will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ravan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AZAL is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
AZAL and Neftchi have settled on $540.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Gabala is saying, and nobody at AZAL is enjoying the guessing.
AZAL asked and Khazar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Qara Ozobic 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.
AZAL have made the call to Red Bull Salzburg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AZAL will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Vugar Madatov is living that version at AZAL, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Cédric Gasser 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Qara Ozobic is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cavid Mammadov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 8 and 17 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.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AZAL has been clear about where Rufat Medvedev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AZAL know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 17 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
7 goals in one match, Qara Ozobic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AZAL and Qarabag.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AZAL have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alex Costa Palomo 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.
Position 8 and 14 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Renat Abdullayev is a AZAL player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
Zira will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Antoine Assaf has pre-agreed a move to AZAL, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“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 dugout13 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Araz Ramazanov to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Dashi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
In brief
Player ratingsAfran Nazarov beats them one at a time
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. AZAL found something the first half had given no notice of, and Kapaz could not hold what they had.
Two goals and a mark of 9.86 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
A brace, and Qara Ozobic takes the afternoon — 9.63
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Qara Ozobic provided it, and the 9.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Alex Costa Palomo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. AZAL know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Neftchi scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Araz Ramazanov was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the AZAL dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutNamig Ozobic asks for a word with the manager
There were 13 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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
A brace, and Qara Ozobic takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Qara Ozobic provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Qara Ozobic 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AZAL can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It needed Qara Ozobic to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Zira, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Matteo Dashi 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gennady Potapov. 2‑0 against Khazar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AZAL.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Gennady Potapov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Alex Costa Palomo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Position 10, 6 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dimitrij Nazarov. 2‑1 against Sumgayit, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AZAL can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Nobody at AZAL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.79 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7 goals in one match, Qara Ozobic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AZAL and Qarabag.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
At 22 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
AZAL asked and Swindon Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Cédric Gasser 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.
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon AZAL had all but put away. Inter will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ravan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The bid was some way short and AZAL did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 28 gone
That is the business done at AZAL until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Add another name to the list: Dila have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Cavid Mammadov. The answer from AZAL has not changed — yet.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ravan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AZAL is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
“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; AZAL are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Manuel Haas
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Cavid Mammadov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and AZAL know it.
Qara Ozobic 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Qara Ozobic has improved at 26, 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.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ravan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AZAL have done the hard part with Harrogate Town, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dimitrij Nazarov is on it.
62 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tamkin Guseynov is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
AZAL have made the call to Harrogate Town. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dimitrij Nadirov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AZAL the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Qara Ozobic has improved at 26, 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. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tamkin Jafarov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Zira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A last season at home is what Manuel Haas is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ravan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AZAL is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
AZAL and Zira have settled on $310.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rapid Wien keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“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; AZAL are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Dimitrij Nadirov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and AZAL know it.
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.
AZAL asked and Triestina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Amirguliyev 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Brando Moruzzi is in the works
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Zira is saying, and nobody at AZAL is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
Tamkin Guseynov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
With 5 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at AZAL can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Namig Ozobic 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.
$200.0K was the most the club would pay and Qarabag were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sam Bolland has just signed for AZAL, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique de Marseille have kept their man, and AZAL go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Position 9 and 9 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.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Qara Ozobic 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitrij Bayramov 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AZAL they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and AZAL know now that the thought has arrived.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cavid Mammadov signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alex Costa Palomo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and AZAL know it.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Afran Nazarov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at AZAL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AZAL, another week without a signature from Rufat Medvedev.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 9 and 9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Qara Ozobic 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Costa Palomo 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AZAL, another week without a signature from Agil Huseynov.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AZAL told Alex Costa Palomo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AZAL is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AZAL can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
Alex Costa Palomo 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and AZAL know it.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. AZAL will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 9 and 9 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.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutNamig Ozobic asks for a word with the manager
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AZAL is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitrij Bayramov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cavid Mammadov signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AZAL lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
6 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Afran Nazarov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Namig Ozobic 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qara Ozobic 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AZAL can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Qara Ozobic 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AZAL, another week without a signature from Agil Huseynov.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rahid Amirguliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AZAL lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AZAL they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and AZAL know it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
Alex Costa Palomo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Afran Nazarov signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
“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; AZAL are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Stéphane Acka has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Position 9 and 9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at AZAL until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Namig Ozobic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at AZAL than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AZAL have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sumgayit keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AZAL is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samir Khalilzade 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.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Estudiantes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Haas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Afran Nazarov signs something — a contract at AZAL or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kapaz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AZAL is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
AZAL had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dila, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
AZAL asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Manuel Haas 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.
“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; AZAL are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AZAL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at AZAL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Namig Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Qara Ozobic 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.
AZAL asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AZAL has been clear about where Cavid Khalilzade stands, which is more than many ever get.
A loan enquiry to Dila: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad3 Jan 2028
5 new faces, and AZAL are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Qara Ozobic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Vugar Jafarov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tamkin Guseynov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Something was said to Cédric Gasser and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dimitrij Nazarov is on it.
Position 9 and 9 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.
Position 9 on 9 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qara Ozobic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.