Marked for Diyor Ermanov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Apr 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tobol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Apr 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 Tobol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Antonio Boršić 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 dugout16 Apr 2029
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ordabasy Postnikov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zhasūlan Zhūmashev is on it.
Match14 Apr 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Atyrau will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Antonio Boršić asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Looking ahead16 Apr 2029
A reunion for Lucas
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Irtysh in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Tobol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
The deal with Okzhetpes 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.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Tobol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sanzhar Kemelbek 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Tobol
Maxim Maximov 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdoulaye Cissé has his answer from Tobol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
“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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniiar Üsenov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Tobol
Maxim Maximov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Tobol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Boršić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Lucas wants to go home
“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 Tobol know it.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Daniiar Üsenov has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Tobol that is a harder question to answer.
Market11 Dec 2028
Tobol have let the market know Dulat Talyspaev can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Dec 2028
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Temirlan Erlanov
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Tobol will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Temirlan Erlanov and Tobol agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tobol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zhasūlan Zhūmashev, and the manager let it.
Market4 Dec 2028
Daniiar Üsenov comes back from a loan that worked
16 appearances and 2 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Tobol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Boršić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniiar Üsenov is on it.
Market4 Dec 2028
Tobol have let the market know Abdoulaye Cissé can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market4 Dec 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Oct 2028
“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; Tobol are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tobol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Tobol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Boršić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zhasūlan Zhūmashev is on it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diyor Ermanov, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Tobol
Antonio Boršić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Tobol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sanzhar Kemelbek 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Too much change too quickly at Tobol
9 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Talgat Orazov commits to Tobol for another 3 years.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Nobody at Tobol will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Kirill Chemakin
“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
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Däuren Jūmat had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
The offer went to Okzhetpes 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Andrey Marjanov gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Andrey Marjanov has just signed for Tobol, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Tobol asked and Crvena Zvezda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Tobol
Antonio Boršić 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 Sep 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sanzhar Kemelbek is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“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; Tobol are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Tobol have made the call to Temperley. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Baltika is saying, and nobody at Tobol is enjoying the guessing.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“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; Tobol are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Celje have kept their man, and Tobol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Tobol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sanzhar Kemelbek 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Tobol
Saba Akhalkatsi 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 dugout28 Aug 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zhasūlan Zhūmashev is on it.
Market28 Aug 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kirill Chemakin has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Tobol.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
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. Tobol will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
The knee: Luis Guerra out for 32 days
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tobol lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match3 Jun 2028
No end in sight to Tobol's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tobol has to find a result from somewhere.
Market5 Jun 2028
“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.
Match3 Jun 2028
Tobol cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Josip Čondrić 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Tobol
Diyor Ermanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market5 Jun 2028
“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.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Marked 7.75. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Temirlan Erlanov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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 Tobol know it.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Tobol
Antonio Boršić 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
Three points for Tobol, 1‑0 the final word against Atyrau in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Marked 7.67 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Tobol had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Ordabasy Postnikov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Tobol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danylo Lapka 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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Nobody at Tobol will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market17 Apr 2028
The name of Däuren Jūmat keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tobol say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Mar 2028
Nauryzbek Zhagorov damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Danylo Lapka gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Danylo Lapka has just signed for Tobol, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Tobol
Askhat Tağybergen 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
The shirt still fits. Dulat Talyspaev is back at Tobol, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market6 Mar 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market6 Mar 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kirill Chemakin is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Tobol
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.