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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Xəyal Əliyev 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 Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan 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 The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alassane Coulibaly 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 Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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 The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.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 Karvan 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 Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vadim Abdullayev has his answer from Karvan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Karvan know it.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Araz Abdullayev has his answer from Karvan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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. Karvan will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“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 Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chase for Xəyal Əliyev ended with $470.0K changing hands and Sabah out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Thiago Rodrigues and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Karvan spend $470.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $470.0K for Xəyal Əliyev, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Agil Guseynov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tamkin Bayramov 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 arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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 want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Karvan heard it as anything else.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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 squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Thiago Rodrigues is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Alassane Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
17 appearances and 3 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver 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 Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Karvan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
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 conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kamran Ibrahimov has written the date down.
Position 12 and 12 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 Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Karvan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Karvan 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Édson Reis
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan 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 Sávio 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 Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Position 12 and 12 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 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 Karvan 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 Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 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.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan 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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alassane Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Umarali Rahmonaliyev has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 Umarali Rahmonaliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kamran Ibrahimov has written the date down.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
At 20 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan 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 Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Karvan, 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 Karvan know it.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
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.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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 Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Karvan now know that too.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Karvan know now that the thought has arrived.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Karvan told Alassane Coulibaly something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
In brief
The dugoutPedro Antônio knocks on the manager's door
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Édson Reis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Karvan would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 Karvan know it.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
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.
Something was said to Adailson and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Karvan has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Position 12 on 12 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Karvan close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
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.
“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 Karvan, 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.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee is $1.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sabah drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Umarali Rahmonaliyev was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.0M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
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 medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Karvan have done the hard part with Zira, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Turan Tovuz had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Karvan know which stage they are at.
A 1‑1 draw with Turan Tovuz leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Shahriyar Medvedev chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Neftchi.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sabah keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Neftchi 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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.
Everybody at Karvan saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan 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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Karvan asked and Sabah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
18 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.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
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.
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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Édson Reis will call it something else in private.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Shahriyar Medvedev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
“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 Karvan know 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 Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.06 for the rest of it.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marquinhos 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.
Minute 86, against Qarabag, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“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 Karvan know 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Karvan can tell you which week it ends in.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Shahriyar Medvedev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Joy-Slayd Mickels is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan 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 Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
13 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.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Pedro Antônio: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Thiago Rodrigues 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 Marquinhos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Marked 8.17 — 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.
Minute 94, against Imishli, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Zira next, and one man in the Karvan dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Camilo signs something — a contract at Karvan 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.
Next up on the road: Zira, position 5. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Johnatan Cardoso has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
SquadShaquill Sno is the talk of the training ground
11 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.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Half the programme played, position 12, 4 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alassane Coulibaly trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
1‑4 to Neftchi, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan 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 Marquinhos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
9 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.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Karvan can tell you which week it ends in.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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.
16 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Karvan can tell you which week it ends in.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Karvan told Camilo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
Looking aheadKarvan take on the side everybody is chasing
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Marquinhos 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.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kapaz in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Karvan can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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 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.
6 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Karvan can tell you which week it ends in.
Alassane Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Marquinhos 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.
15 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Shahriyar Medvedev left the room before anybody could ask which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sabah in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Karvan close the window on a squad of their own making
28 in and 3 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.
$800.0K was the most the club would pay and Guarani 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan 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 Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Karvan asked and Neftchi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Karvan know which stage they are at.
The offer went to Guarani this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Marquinhos 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Thiago Rodrigues 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 Gavi Thompson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Karvan are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
13 new faces, and Karvan 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Johnatan Cardoso is living that version at Karvan, and it tends to show in the first month.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marquinhos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Karvan asked and Qarabag said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Karvan will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Karvan, another week without a signature from Thiago Rodrigues.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Leandro has, at Karvan, 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 Gavi Thompson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Karvan asked and Neftchi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rashad Madatov 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Qara 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruslan Abdullayev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mahir Guseynov 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Karvan will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alassane Coulibaly has just signed for Karvan, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Karvan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Alassane Coulibaly 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 Gavi Thompson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Əmrah Bulud again, and this time the name on the line is DIFAI Agsu. Karvan are listening politely and promising nothing.