Marked for Ehsan Yazdani
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Anger at Padideh spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Padideh boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Padideh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Saeid Beiranvand out for 114 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Padideh
Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
20 appearances at Emirates Club and the goals keep coming. Padideh are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sirvan Ghorbani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Reza Ghoddos 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Nov 2026
Padideh are in real trouble now
Position 14, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Padideh's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Padideh has to find a result from somewhere.
Match21 Nov 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Padideh
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
1‑2 to Esteghlal Khuzestan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
A six-pointer for Padideh
Naft Tehran next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vahid Vafaei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Omid Cheshmi left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
There were 9 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Nowhere to hide for Padideh
0‑3 against Esteghlal, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match14 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for Padideh
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Padideh are no longer polite ones.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match14 Nov 2026
Padideh are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match14 Nov 2026
The goals have deserted Padideh
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Padideh can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Karim Cheshmi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom16 Nov 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Oct 2026
Padideh are in real trouble now
Position 14, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 7.91 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Padideh lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Padideh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia 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.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Padideh game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Emirates Club runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Omid Cheshmi to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Ashkan Cheshmi is on it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
One booking too many, and Kaveh Gholizadeh sits out. Padideh lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Padideh against Foolad
1‑3 to Foolad, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Padideh
Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Padideh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vahid Vafaei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mohammad Gholizadeh commits to Padideh for another 3 years.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Ahmad Ghoddos gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ahmad Ghoddos is on it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Amirreza Changalvaei’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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
There were 10 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.
Match2 Sep 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Ehsan Yazdani obliged against Naft Tehran. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Padideh.
Match2 Sep 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Padideh scored in the 103th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Ehsan Yazdani takes the afternoon — 8.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ehsan Yazdani provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Ashkan Cheshmi at 21 — 8.00
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ashkan Cheshmi did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 8 in, 1 out at Padideh
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
No thanks: Joe Whitworth rejects the move
Padideh had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Wigan Athletic, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Omid Jahanbakhsh to Naft Tehran has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Padideh with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Sardar Noorafkan had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$1.9M 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Esteghlal 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Malavan have kept their man, and Padideh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ahmad Ghoddos and Padideh agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Ehsan Yazdani
“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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.