Marked for Ehsan Ebrahimi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Boburjon Asqarov out for 80 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Padideh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
12 goals and a season average of 7.43 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Match27 Nov 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sardar Moharrami. 3‑1 against Esteghlal Khuzestan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ehsan Ebrahimi 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 ratings29 Nov 2027
Ninety minutes of Milad Beiranvand at his very best
Marked 8.38. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padideh.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Majid Rezaeian was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.35. 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 ratings29 Nov 2027
Marked 8.25 — 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
96 days out for Boburjon Asqarov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Padideh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match13 Nov 2027
Chastening afternoon for Padideh
A 1‑4 beating by Zob Ahan was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Ashkan Ghoddos: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A season average of 7.39 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Match15 Nov 2027
The half-term report on Padideh
Position 9, 24 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Nov 2027
103 days out for Boburjon Asqarov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Padideh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match6 Nov 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑0 against Saba, and it could have been more.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
11 goals and a season average of 7.39 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Sardar Moharrami was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.58. 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
Padideh settle it inside twenty minutes
3 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Saba spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Vahid Rezaeian
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
Majid Rezaeian has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ali Azmoun 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Mohammad 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Marked 8.02 — 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
7 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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 Omid Pouraliganji left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Milad Beiranvand 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 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.
Squad25 Oct 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
A 3‑1 win over Sepahan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
10 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The terraces25 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Omid Gholizadeh 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 ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 8.23 — 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.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Omid Pouraliganji on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Sardar Moharrami 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Omid Gholizadeh and Padideh agree another 3 years.
Match16 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Omid Pouraliganji to a room that had heard them before.
Squad18 Oct 2027
6 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Ali Azmoun 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.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
A brace, and Vahid Rezaeian takes the afternoon — 9.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vahid Rezaeian provided it, and the 9.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad11 Oct 2027
8 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Padideh and Gostaresh Foulad, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Azmoun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Amir 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ehsan Ebrahimi, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
9 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 3‑4 defeat, delivered by Omid Pouraliganji to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 48. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.79 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad4 Oct 2027
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.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
Siah Jamegan made Padideh work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Reza Noorafkan and Padideh agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Marked 8.59 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Kaveh Yazdani at 21 — 7.80
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kaveh Yazdani did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad27 Sep 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Three points for Padideh, 3‑1 the final word against Persepolis in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kaveh Yazdani 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 ratings27 Sep 2027
Sardar Moharrami was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.43. 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 ratings27 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Majid Rezaeian at his very best
Marked 8.28. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padideh.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
8 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Omid Pouraliganji could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
The dugout13 Sep 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Morteza Cheshmi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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 ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.08 — 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market13 Sep 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ahmad Pouraliganji has his answer from Padideh; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
Andrés Tovar decides it from twelve yards
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match1 Sep 2027
Cup progress for Padideh
A 3‑3 win over Esteghlal Khuzestan, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad6 Sep 2027
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.
Match4 Sep 2027
0‑3 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A brace, and Vahid Rezaeian takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vahid Rezaeian provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 12 in, 7 out at Padideh
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market6 Sep 2027
Padideh say no — this time
The offer from Petrojet for Morteza Cheshmi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match4 Sep 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Saipa 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 ratings30 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A brace, and Ramin Beiranvand takes the afternoon — 9.74
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ramin Beiranvand provided it, and the 9.74 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match28 Aug 2027
Padideh cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Azmoun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market30 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Padideh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market30 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Padideh will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market16 Aug 2027
Padideh say no — this time
The offer from Petrojet for Ahmad Pouraliganji was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Persepolis wanted more than $690.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Red Bull Salzburg have kept their man, and Padideh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout16 Aug 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.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Majid Rezaeian was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Petrojet had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
$690.0K on the table at Persepolis. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vahid Rezaeian and Padideh agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Milad Kor 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Red Bull Salzburg have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Graduation day at Padideh
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vahid Rezaeian commits to Padideh for another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sardar Vafaei is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Milad Hosseini 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ramin Torabi 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramin Hajsafi 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Padideh board go back on their word
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
In brief
-
Squad
Too much change too quickly at Padideh
-
The dugout
When it matters, Ali Azmoun plays
-
Looking ahead
Padideh take on the side everybody is chasing
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Padideh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
No thanks: Simon Simoni rejects the move
Padideh had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Luzern, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Malavan wanted more than $720.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Reza Hosseini commits to Padideh for another 2 years.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Majid Rezaeian 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sardar Moharrami’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match26 Jul 2027
Padideh in the hunt for Europe
Position 6, 50 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ismaily had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Majid Rezaeian has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Kasimpasa: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Fiorentina: 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
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Padideh would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$2.7M was the most the club would pay and Rah Ahan were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Market21 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Sepahan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ramin Beiranvand. The answer from Padideh has not changed — yet.
Market21 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Amir Hossein Nikpour joins from Saba in a deal worth $390.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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 terraces21 Jun 2027
The town asked, and Padideh paid $390.0K
Amir Hossein Nikpour was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $390.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
45 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
No deal for Omid Latifi at that price
Padideh offered $5.3M; Zob Ahan said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Omid Gholizadeh and Padideh agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Sepahan: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ali Azmoun’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Padideh have had the benefit of it.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 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.
The dugout31 May 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.
The dugout31 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 Majid Rezaeian is on it.
Market31 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sardar Moharrami’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Match31 May 2027
Padideh in the hunt for Europe
Position 6, 50 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager plants his flag on Amir Yazdani
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Amir Yazdani’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad24 May 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.
The dugout24 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 Sardar Moharrami is on it.
Market24 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Saman Pouraliganji’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
Questions about Omid Gholizadeh 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
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 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.
The dugout3 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 Majid Rezaeian is on it.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sardar Moharrami’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout3 May 2027
Reza Noorafkan 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 Reza Noorafkan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Match3 May 2027
Padideh in the hunt for Europe
Position 6, 50 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad19 Apr 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.
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 Saman Pouraliganji is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Ashkan Ghoddos, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kaveh Yazdani commits to Padideh for another 5 years.
The dugout12 Apr 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ehsan Ebrahimi commits to Padideh for another 4 years.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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 Mar 2027
Amir 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
International break empties Padideh
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
The name of Ramin Beiranvand has come up in conversations Padideh were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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 dugout15 Mar 2027
Ali Azmoun 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi knocks on the manager's door
“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.
Market15 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Majid Rezaeian signs something — a contract at Padideh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A wage question at Padideh
Vahid Rezaeian has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Padideh would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market15 Mar 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Milad Yazdani leaves Padideh the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Mar 2027
BK Hacken come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Padideh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad8 Mar 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for Amir Yazdani, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Reza Noorafkan and Padideh agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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 dugout8 Mar 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 Majid Rezaeian is on it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ehsan Dejagah, and the manager let it.
Market8 Mar 2027
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.
Match8 Mar 2027
Continental football is in reach for Padideh
50 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Feb 2027
Padideh bow out of the cup
Sepahan go through and Padideh go home, 2‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.44 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market1 Mar 2027
Add another name to the list: BK Hacken have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vahid Rezaeian. The answer from Padideh has not changed — yet.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad1 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Majid Rezaeian 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.
Match24 Feb 2027
Padideh rescue it on 119 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 119. Sepahan had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout1 Mar 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
From twelve yards, and Vahid Rezaeian misses
A penalty is the one moment in football with nowhere to hide, and he did not score it. The walk back was long and the week will be longer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.82 with 30 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
4‑0, and Saman Pouraliganji took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Padideh tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Padideh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.73, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Ramin Beiranvand 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Ninety minutes of Milad Beiranvand at his very best
Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padideh.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
29 goals and a season average of 7.80 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Sardar Moharrami takes the afternoon — 9.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sardar Moharrami provided it, and the 9.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
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: Vahid Rezaeian from Gostaresh Foulad for $410.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.75 with 27 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A brace, and Sardar Moharrami takes the afternoon — 9.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sardar Moharrami provided it, and the 9.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Zob Ahan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Gostaresh Foulad, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market18 Jan 2027
Milad Yazdani has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Padideh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ali Azmoun 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jan 2027
A 3‑2 win over Gostaresh Foulad, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ehsan Ebrahimi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
25 goals and a season average of 7.68. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match9 Jan 2027
Siah Jamegan will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Padideh were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market11 Jan 2027
Padideh say no — this time
The offer from Persepolis for Milad Beiranvand was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad11 Jan 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad11 Jan 2027
6 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Omid Gholizadeh: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Esteghlal, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Padideh had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Foolad, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Saman Pouraliganji and Padideh agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 44. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market4 Jan 2027
Esteghlal come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Padideh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Padideh had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Majid Rezaeian
11 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match2 Jan 2027
Persepolis left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
22 goals and a season average of 7.62 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Sardar Moharrami takes the afternoon — 9.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sardar Moharrami provided it, and the 9.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ali Azmoun 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Padideh and Rah Ahan in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milad Kor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Milad Beiranvand at his very best
Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padideh.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ashkan Ghoddos, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Dec 2026
Chastening afternoon for Padideh
A 0‑3 beating by Tractor was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ehsan Ebrahimi
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.26 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match12 Dec 2026
After 4 games, Padideh finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Tractor; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Amir Yazdani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
Doors closed at Padideh
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match2 Dec 2026
Padideh through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Esteghlal, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match5 Dec 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad7 Dec 2026
19 goals and a season average of 7.54. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match5 Dec 2026
Padideh make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Padideh have 4 straight wins of it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Milad Yazdani has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Padideh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
Whatever happens, Padideh do not lose
6 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
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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.17 — 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Ali Azmoun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Vahid Moharrami
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Omid Pouraliganji was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Padideh dressing room was either.
Match14 Nov 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Esteghlal came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market16 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Sepahan made Padideh work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Omid Pouraliganji on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Omid Gholizadeh
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Market19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 17 years old, Karim Moharrami became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market12 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Padideh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Milad Yazdani has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ehsan Ebrahimi 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ramin Beiranvand scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Foolad, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Padideh are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match10 Oct 2026
Foolad blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Foolad tried to reorganise, Padideh did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
The dugout
A promise honoured for Milad Kor
-
The dugout
Ali Azmoun has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
5 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match26 Sep 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Padideh scored in the 97th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 5‑4, and it was Sardar Moharrami’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Padideh.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ali Azmoun 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Sardar Moharrami at his very best
Marked 10.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padideh.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
12 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.30, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Persepolis left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Milad Kor
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Milad Kor, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Moharrami
7 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout21 Sep 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 Omid Pouraliganji left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Padideh
0‑3 against Tractor, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market31 Aug 2026
Malavan come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Padideh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Padideh have gone to Sepahan 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$240.0K was the most the club would pay and Sepahan were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Padideh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Padideh asked and Al-Hilal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 Aug 2026
3‑0, and Sardar Moharrami took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Padideh tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Milad Yazdani hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padideh can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
Padideh cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Esteghlal Khuzestan wanted more than $230.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Azmoun 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Kaveh Yazdani has come up in conversations Padideh were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A brace, and Sardar Moharrami takes the afternoon — 9.32
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sardar Moharrami provided it, and the 9.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market10 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Padideh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$1.2M on the table at Esteghlal. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sardar Moharrami commits to Padideh for another 4 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Padideh have gone to Foolad 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Ehsan Ebrahimi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 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.