Marked for Ignacio Mercado
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Sep 2030
There were 6 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.
Squad16 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tractor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.50, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Marked 9.03 — 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.
Squad16 Sep 2030
The medical room confirms 59 days on the sidelines for Pejman Ebrahimi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.61, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad16 Sep 2030
“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 Tractor know it.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Feb 2030
There were 8 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
A season average of 7.64 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad11 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tractor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Feb 2030
2‑3 to Siah Jamegan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
A performance of 8.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“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.
Boardroom11 Feb 2030
Nobody left the Tractor dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Mar 2029
Majid Hosseini: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tractor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tractor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tractor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mehdi Hashemnejad and Tractor agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amir Mehdi Janmaleki, and the manager let it.
Market5 Mar 2029
Tractor have made Ignacio Mercado available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Tractor production line keeps running
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Boardroom
The Tractor board choose calm
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tractor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match10 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Tractor's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tractor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Feb 2029
11 goals and a season average of 7.48. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh 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.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.93, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Marked 8.63 — 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.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Dec 2028
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad1 Jan 2029
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Tractor will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match30 Dec 2028
Nobody wants to play Tractor right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Alireza Beiranvand 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.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
A performance of 9.78 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A season average of 7.45 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.