The Saba Sentinel
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Saman Taremi
Successful dribbles: 48. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
Saba let it slip despite Vahid Mohammadi
Vahid Mohammadi had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Esteghlal Ahvaz were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ramin Dejagah puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Saba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
Saba turn down Esteghlal Ahvaz for Mohammad Jahanbakhsh
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Vouria Khodadad 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 Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Vahid Mohammadi 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Vahid Mohammadi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Alireza Moharrami in the eights
A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Vahid Mohammadi
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vahid Mohammadi, and the manager let it.
In brief
- Match Honours even between Saba and Esteghlal Ahvaz
- Squad Vouria Khodadad dropped after a run of poor form
- Market Omid Hosseini is free to find somewhere else