Marked for Shahriar Beiranvand
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad20 Sep 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match18 Sep 2027
11 unbeaten for Padideh
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Padideh did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Vouria Yazdani 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
A 3‑1 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.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mehdi Rezaeian commits to Padideh for another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Aug 2027
Majid Hosseini damages knee ligaments — 46 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Milad Moharrami 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Malavan have kept their man, and Padideh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match7 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Haitham Asiri. 1‑0 against Esteghlal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Shahriar Beiranvand and Padideh agree another 2 years.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Haitham Asiri
7.88, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Padideh had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Karim Nekounam on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad9 Aug 2027
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Padideh have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
No place in the plan for Omid Azmoun
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
No thanks: Luka Vrbančić rejects the move
Padideh had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shahriar Rezaeian and Padideh agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jul 2027
The name of Karim Shojaei has come up in conversations Padideh were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jan Petek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan move for Ali Gholizadeh is in the works
Padideh have made the call to Lech. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Malavan: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Vahid Nekounam
“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 dugout12 Jul 2027
Nobody at Padideh 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
The unthinkable, invoiced: Alireza Shojaei sold
Zob Ahan arrived with $1.9M 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.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Alireza Shojaei has gone, the accounts have $1.9M 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The deal with Malavan is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Padideh asked and Malavan 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
Nobody at Padideh 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Padideh would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Vouria Yazdani joins up with his country. Padideh lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
At 18, Alireza Shojaei is already the best thing here
An average of 7.32 in a first team he is several years too young for. Padideh have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Alireza Rezaeian and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi 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 dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shahriar Beiranvand, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Omid Dejagah has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Padideh 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.
Market24 May 2027
The name of Shahriar Rezaeian keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Padideh say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Keykhosro Siahpour and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 May 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Shahriar Beiranvand is on it.
Market17 May 2027
The name of Vouria Yazdani keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Padideh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout17 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mohammad Yazdani has written the date down.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shahriar Beiranvand trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad17 May 2027
Questions about Zayed Khamis on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Alireza Rezaeian and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zayed Khamis, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mehdi Beiranvand trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Shahriar Beiranvand is on it.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vouria Yazdani signs something — a contract at Padideh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The training reports on Zayed Khamis are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
He is 18, he is averaging 7.32, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Keykhosro Siahpour and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammad Yazdani, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Omid Dejagah gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Omid Dejagah is on it.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shahriar Rezaeian signs something — a contract at Padideh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Padideh the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Match29 Mar 2027
Nothing left to play for but pride at Padideh
46 points in position 8: too many to go down, too few to go anywhere. The honest description of a season like this is a shrug, and the supporters have already given it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager plants his flag on Alireza Shojaei
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Alireza Shojaei’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Alireza Rezaeian and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Padideh are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nobody at Padideh 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Padideh lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Market22 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vouria Yazdani signs something — a contract at Padideh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Padideh. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Feb 2027
Padideh finish in position 8
46 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Alireza Rezaeian and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milad 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Padideh
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.38 on the card, and the Padideh support went home talking about one name.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Point won or two lost for Padideh?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Zob Ahan? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Feb 2027
Malavan will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Padideh were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Alireza Shojaei at 18 — 8.93
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alireza Shojaei did not need any: 8.93, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sion have kept their man, and Padideh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Keykhosro Siahpour 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.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sardar Rezaeian has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Ahmad Jahanbakhsh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. 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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Padideh release $4.0M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to Karim Taremi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match21 Nov 2026
Whatever happens, Padideh do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Padideh
Alireza Rezaeian 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Karim Taremi 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Karim Taremi. 3‑2 against Esteghlal Khuzestan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mehdi Pouraliganji and Padideh agree another 4 years.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Omid Azmoun
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑2, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.24 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match24 Oct 2026
Malavan made Padideh work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
At 18 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vouria Yazdani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Karim Nekounam kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Padideh lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ashkan Shojaei
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Alireza Shojaei is the weekend's best young player
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.02 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Padideh
Vouria Yazdani 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑2 to Siah Jamegan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Alireza Shojaei has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Padideh will not try tonight.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Alireza Rezaeian 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.55 on the card, and the Padideh support went home talking about one name.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Vouria Yazdani asks for a word with the manager
“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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Karim Nekounam chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Reza Nekounam 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Persepolis came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 12, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.