It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diyorbek Asomiddinov 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Morteza Moharrami signs something — a contract at Gostaresh Foulad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Ehsan Rezaeian keeps the shirt for now, at Gostaresh Foulad's convenience rather than his own.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ehsan Rezaeian and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Morteza Moharrami signs something — a contract at Gostaresh Foulad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Gostaresh Foulad scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Position 10 on 38 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ehsan Rezaeian was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ehsan Rezaeian 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.
Tractor held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Gostaresh Foulad answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Saipa will make the call about Morteza Azmoun this week. Gostaresh Foulad have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ehsan Rezaeian was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout31 Jan 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Saman Karimi to a room that had heard them before.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Morteza Azmoun provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Morteza Azmoun. 3‑1 against Padideh, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ehsan Rezaeian 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.21, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mahamadou Sangaré did not need any: 8.34, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
A 2‑0 win over Rah Ahan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Morteza Azmoun was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Saman Karimi on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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 Gostaresh Foulad, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diyorbek Asomiddinov 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Reza Ghoddos and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asan Vaniyev 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Morteza Moharrami signs something — a contract at Gostaresh Foulad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Gostaresh Foulad would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gostaresh Foulad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gostaresh Foulad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Milad Vafaei and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Mehdi Khodadad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ali Azmoun 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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gostaresh Foulad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Gostaresh Foulad and Malavan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Beaten 6 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Gostaresh Foulad dressing room in a hurry
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gostaresh Foulad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Sepahan were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ali Azmoun 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Saman Karimi on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gostaresh Foulad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Azmoun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gostaresh Foulad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Esteghlal kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Gostaresh Foulad will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saeid Moharrami provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Gostaresh Foulad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gostaresh Foulad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A point taken on 85 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gostaresh Foulad told Morteza Azmoun something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gostaresh Foulad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout23 Nov 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 1‑2 Saman Karimi left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Siah Jamegan next, and one man in the Gostaresh Foulad dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 15. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gostaresh Foulad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Morteza Azmoun had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Rah Ahan were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Morteza Azmoun provided it, and the 9.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A brace, and Saeid Yazdani takes the afternoon — 9.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saeid Yazdani provided it, and the 9.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
It needed Morteza Azmoun to find the net to bring anything home at all: 5‑5 against Rah Ahan, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Asan Vaniyev 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.
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gostaresh Foulad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karim Shojaei and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 3 years.
A 2‑1 win over Esteghlal Ahvaz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Position 10, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Alireza Dejagah
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gostaresh Foulad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 dugout2 Nov 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 2‑3 Saman Karimi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gostaresh Foulad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
13 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Saeid Moharrami was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.53. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gostaresh Foulad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Mohammad Noorafkan 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shahriar Yazdani, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Karim Shojaei was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“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; Gostaresh Foulad are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Naft Tehran had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
3‑6 to Persepolis, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.94 beside his name.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Gostaresh Foulad and Persepolis, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Gostaresh Foulad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Rah Ahan the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Gostaresh Foulad will enjoy reviewing.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ehsan Rezaeian 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Ahmad Ebrahimi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Reza Taremi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.