Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ehsan Noorafkan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Padideh needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Padideh know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Padideh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Hossein Hajsafi after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 15 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The offer went to Tractor this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.5M — a club that wants Saeid Karimazar enough to be asked twice.
Majid Mohammadi 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 words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
Padideh asked and Zob Ahan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jaloliddin Masharipov has his answer from Padideh; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Cheshmi is on it.
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 Amir Reza Afsordeh has written the date down.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padideh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“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 Padideh, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee is $1.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Esteghlal drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
$1.3M on the table at Sepahan. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Mohammed Reza Azadi from Esteghlal for $1.4M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
The mood at Padideh has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Majid Mohammadi 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Padideh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Cheshmi is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alireza Pouraliganji signs something — a contract at Padideh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The mood at Padideh has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Majid Mohammadi 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.
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 Cheshmi is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alireza Pouraliganji signs something — a contract at Padideh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Padideh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Majid Mohammadi 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Padideh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
30 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.
0‑3 to Foolad, 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.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ehsan Noorafkan was one of the reasons people came, and $280.0K does not replace that by itself.
Everything agreed with Esteghlal Khuzestan, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amit Cohen and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 3 years.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Gostaresh Foulad can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Omid 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.
The chase for Ehsan Noorafkan ended with $280.0K changing hands and Gostaresh Foulad out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
Add another name to the list: Saipa have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mehdi Beiranvand. The answer from Padideh has not changed — yet.
38 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omid Nekounam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tractor have kept their man, and Gostaresh Foulad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Mohammad Amini again, and this time the name on the line is Malavan. Gostaresh Foulad are listening politely and promising nothing.
67 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.
Kaveh 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omid Nekounam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
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 Dejagah kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
75 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.
Ashkan Alijani had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Tractor 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. Ashkan Alijani provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omid 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.
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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Gostaresh Foulad know it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Kaveh Yazdani's mistake
89 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omid Nekounam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Gostaresh Foulad will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Alireza Karami 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.
Saipa 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mehdi Beiranvand signs something — a contract at Gostaresh Foulad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gostaresh Foulad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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. Omid 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omid Nekounam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alireza Karami 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gostaresh Foulad can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gostaresh Foulad has to find a result from somewhere.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mehdi Beiranvand and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 4 years.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Gostaresh Foulad can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Omid 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.
Reza 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Karim Dejagah after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
7.71, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Shahriar Khodadad and Gostaresh Foulad agree another 3 years.
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $240.0K for Roham Mohammad Taghizadeh, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omid Nekounam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Gostaresh Foulad asked and Esteghlal Khuzestan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Gostaresh Foulad have gone to Persepolis with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Kaveh Yazdani 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 had been thinking. Omid 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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad12 Jul 2027
10 new faces, and Gostaresh Foulad are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
1‑4 to Tractor, 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shahriar Khodadad 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. Omid 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.
Abolfazl Zamani 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.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Karim Dejagah to a room that had heard them before.
Beaten 4 times, 4 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.