Marked for Ehsan Hosseini
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Ramin Taremi out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rah Ahan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rah Ahan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Rah Ahan
Nhoa Sangui 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alireza Enayatzadeh 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 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yosh Strimling, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
Ehsan Shojaei is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nhoa Sangui in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Alireza Enayatzadeh 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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rah Ahan, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Ramin Ghoddos has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rah Ahan 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rah Ahan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Nhoa Sangui 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Rah Ahan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alireza Enayatzadeh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Ehsan Shojaei is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Ehsan Shojaei knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ehsan Shojaei trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Rah Ahan would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Squad22 Mar 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Rah Ahan lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rah Ahan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Rah Ahan's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rah Ahan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
At 19, Vouria Yazdani is already the best thing here
An average of 7.04 in a first team he is several years too young for. Rah Ahan have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Hossein Saki in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ramin Nekounam 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Malavan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Vouria Dejagah
“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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Sardar Noorafkan left the room before anybody could ask which.