LEFT OUT OF THE GAME

Azerbaijan's football championship was not sparkling with world famous names. Therefore, when any club manages to attract even vaguely well-known league players, it makes the football fans take an interest. But foreign footballers do not always live up to the fans' expectations of them. There are objective reasons for this. Sometimes the fans are expecting too much, but sometimes the league footballers play considerably worse than they did in their previous club. Consequently, a player like that either has to sit out among the possible substitutes or join the ranks of the reserves until they find him a new club. Regionplus has drawn up a list of league players who have not lived up to expectations during the 13 rounds of Azerbaijan's Premier League Tournament.

Marius Pena

During the first game in the "Baki" club's striped shirt the "the Romanian centre forward showed himself to be a high-class player. Very few people had any doubt that Marius Pena, who had turned out to be a real headache for the "Baki" team's opponents in the 2013/2014 season would remain one of the main players, even with the new trainer.

Although many had predicted that Pena would remain a member of "Baku's" main team, even though the forward Rauf Aliyev had been transferred from the "Qarabag" [Karabakh] team for the summer season, things turned out differently.

Rauf Aliyev made up a good duo with another former "Qarabag" player, Afran Ismayilov, and the pair were responsible for 10 out of the 21 goals scored by the capital's team. After playing like that, it was hardly likely that Rauf Aliyev would give up his place in the main team. And now league player Pena is only a substitute player.

Junior Wilson

The management of the "Baki" club, who change their trainers like gloves, bear much of the blame for the "disappearance" of [Edward Junior] Wilson, who gained the respect of fans for his skilful game and spot-on strikes. It cannot be said that there are any players in the capital's team today who play better than Wilson. It is simply that Pantich cannot find a place in the capital's team for the Brazilian, who no longer gets any practice.

Edin Nuredinoski

The "Baki" team's Macedonian goalkeeper is also one of Pantich's "victims". True, it was thought that, after the transfer of Kamran Agayev, Edin Nuredinoski would spend most of his time in the reserve. But the Serbian trainer does not even visualise the Macedonian goal-keeper being a substitute. The chief trainer is not even including Nuredinoski on the list for the game, preferring to engage Kamran Agayev and Elxan Ahmadov.

Adrian Pit

The former "A. S. Roma" player is one of the best professional league players who plays in Azerbaijan. Persuaded to join "Xazar-Lankaran" [Khazar-Lankaran] when Mircea Rednic was the trainer there, he remained one of the biggest "southern" players under Yunis Huseynov as well. The Romanian footballer did not get on with the next trainer, John Toshack, so he was sent into the reserve. Time showed that it was not Pit who was to blame for "Xazar-Lankaran's "failure", but Toshack's unsuccessful ideas regarding how the game should be played. Anyway, the club's management is trying to find a new job for the Romanian half-back.

Dejan Kelhar

After Yuri Semin became the chief trainer at the "Qabala" club, the team's Slovenian defender, Dejan Kelhar lost his place in the "main team". Having played reliably as a left-wing defender, Kelhar is now forced to watch Nikol Valentic playing in that spot. This situation casts doubt on his ability to play defender in Slovenia's national team. Kelhar should either come to an agreement with "Qabala" club on a mutual breach of contract or he has to resign himself to a situation which threatens his future in football.

Cristian Pulhac

Pulhac has also been put on Semin's "black list". There was no longer any room for him in the line of defence at "Qabala", where Vladimir Levin and Elnur Allahverdiyev had strengthened their positions. This has moreover been common knowledge since the summer. Consequently, Pulhac who had defended the honour of Bucharest's "Dinamo" team for 12 years, has been transferred to the reserve. He is on gardening leave for the moment until another club takes an interest in his services.

Miro Varvodic

"Qarabag's" Croatian goal-keeper was the team's goal-keeper in the 2013/2014 season and also during the summer European Cup games. In the current season Qurban Qurbanov has greater  faith in Farhad Valiyev; the engagement of the Bosnian Ibrahim Sehic should be a serious warning to Varvodic. As a result, we have no longer been able to see his name on the list of players in the two latest matches in the country's championship. 

All these footballers will probably leave Azerbaijan in January. Players, who do not get on with their trainers or are not in tip-top condition cannot remain here for long. At least, the clubs' management will not pay them. Here the managers who engage such players are themselves the main problem. They reassure the players by presenting the Azerbaijan championship as a low- level competition, in which there will be few serious opponents. Once they have received their percentage from the transfer (usually 20 per cent of the total sum), the managers no longer take any interest in what happens to the league players. Another factor is that the league players lose their form over a six-month period. The league players come to Azerbaijan to develop their game as it were, then their play declines to the level of that of the local players.