Marked for Reza Pouraliganji
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Apr 2029
Erfan Bahri hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Saipa can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Apr 2029
Erfan Bahri has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Saipa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Saipa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Saipa's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Saipa has to find a result from somewhere.
Match24 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Saipa
Position 16 and 13 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.
Match22 Jan 2028
Chastening afternoon for Saipa
A 0‑3 beating by Rah Ahan was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Saipa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 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 Saipa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Soheil Sahraei
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Farzad Jafari 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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Doors closed at Saipa
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Reza Pouraliganji commits to Saipa for another 3 years.