Marked for Dmitriy Borodin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vasiliy Sovpel
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Okzhetpes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Okzhetpes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Okzhetpes
8 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market15 Feb 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Okzhetpes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 37 days on the sidelines for Farrux Qurbonov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
122 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Okzhetpes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Okzhetpes
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yeldos Abiken is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Okzhetpes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Okzhetpes
Toqtar Zhańğylyshbai 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zakhar Porokh and Okzhetpes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 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 Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Okzhetpes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Farrux Qurbonov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Tohirbek Yo'ldoshev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Farrux Qurbonov and Okzhetpes agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Okzhetpes
Samat Logvinenko 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
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Samat Logvinenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Okzhetpes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Toqtar Zhańğylyshbai 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Nūrğaini Böribaev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The training reports on Vladimir Vomenko are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Vasiliy Sovpel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yeldos Kuat 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rinat Tagybergen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Tohirbek Yo'ldoshev has just signed for Okzhetpes, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Borodin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 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 Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Dmitriy Borodin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Okzhetpes
20 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Okzhetpes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Kuzmichev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Okzhetpes
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 62 days on the sidelines for Dmitriy Borodin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Okzhetpes asked and Ordabasy said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Toqtar Zhańğylyshbai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Okzhetpes out
Out, 0‑1 to Irtysh, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Catania is saying, and nobody at Okzhetpes is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Vasiliy Sovpel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Shavlokhov, and the manager let it.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Okzhetpes, another week without a signature from David Shavlokhov.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Islambek Murtazaev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Stade Brestois keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Okzhetpes
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$120.0K was the most the club would pay and Aktobe 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Viktor Ziabko again, and this time the name on the line is Taraz. Okzhetpes are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Islambek Baizhanov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Baurzhan Islamkhan 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timur Kuat 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Okzhetpes know which stage they are at.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Okzhetpes
19 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vasiliy Sovpel and Okzhetpes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 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 Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Okzhetpes have gone to Aktobe with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dmitriy Borodin 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
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Stade Brestois 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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
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.” Islambek Murtazaev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.