The phone has started ringing about Shahriar Moharrami again, and this time the name on the line is Esteghlal. Gostaresh Foulad are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer from Al Shabab for Alireza Shojaei was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shahriar Moharrami was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Shahriar Moharrami has his answer from Gostaresh Foulad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Sepahan arrived with $950.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gostaresh Foulad can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Majid Nekounam has gone, the accounts have $950.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Everything agreed with Persepolis, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Yousef Vakia 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Gostaresh Foulad training over how hard people work
The offer from Esteghlal for Shahriar Moharrami was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vouria Dejagah did not need any: 9.10, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ehsan Nekounam 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.
7 goals in one match, Milad Shojaei on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Gostaresh Foulad and Siah Jamegan.
The phone has started ringing about Majid Karimi again, and this time the name on the line is Smouha. Gostaresh Foulad are listening politely and promising nothing.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sepahan will make the call about Majid Nekounam this week. Gostaresh Foulad have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Vouria Dejagah, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The phone has started ringing about Mohammad Ghoddos again, and this time the name on the line is Tractor. Gostaresh Foulad are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ehsan Nekounam and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
6 goals in one match, Milad Shojaei on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Gostaresh Foulad and Persepolis.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shahriar Moharrami 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.
Gostaresh Foulad asked and Sharjah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutEhsan Nekounam asks for a word with the manager