From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Filip Malbašić
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gabala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Sumgayit spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
27 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Eduardo Kunde
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Gabala
Marlon Ugarte 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 terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kajally Drammeh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Víctor Salazar, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Sumgayit made Gabala work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
Filip Malbašić damages knee ligaments — 49 days out
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gabala can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gabala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
374% of the income goes out in wages at Gabala
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Víctor Salazar’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Gabala.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
19 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nicat Əliyev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑3 to Qarabag, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Gabala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gabala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad31 Aug 2026
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Gabala will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Gabala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
26 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Gabala
Sambou Sissoko 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
Gabala spend $370.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $370.0K for Rövlan Muradov, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Domi Jaurès Massoumou has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Gabala, 2‑0 the final word against Inter in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Nicat Əliyev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gabala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Gabala
4 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market17 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samir Dadashov 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rufat Nazarov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Renat Medvedev 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dimitrij Dadashov 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ismahil Akinade, and the manager let it.
Match15 Aug 2026
Gabala come up short against Kapaz
Kapaz left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Gabala training over how hard people work
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Gabala
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Boardroom
Gabala turn down the training-ground plan
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gabala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Paulinho signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paulinho and Gabala agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Denis Popović
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Gabala will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Paulinho gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market10 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Ismahil Akinade’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
Seydina Keïta is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gabala has been clear about where Seydina Keïta stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adriel Ba Loua commits to Gabala for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Gabala
Turan Manafov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Jaime Sierra is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gabala has been clear about where Jaime Sierra stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nicat Əliyev 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Filip Malbašić
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Gabala will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.