Marked for Azat Orazov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
Ahmed Jahouh breaks a bone — 72 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Irtysh's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Irtysh has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Jul 2027
Azat Orazov 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 Irtysh can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Jul 2027
5 matches without a goal for Irtysh
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.
Player ratings19 Jul 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Everton Moraes 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Ahmed Jahouh out for 112 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Irtysh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Jun 2027
Everton Moraes scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Atyrau, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch14 Jun 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Irtysh, and 1 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ūlyqbek Khaitmuratov 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Irtysh needed to.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ğafurzhan Süiimbaev's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market14 Jun 2027
Azat Orazov told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Azat Orazov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Irtysh.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Ahmed Jahouh out for 137 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Irtysh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Everton Moraes 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.
Loan watch24 May 2027
“I watch every Irtysh game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Taraz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad24 May 2027
Ūlyqbek Khaitmuratov 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.
Match22 May 2027
It needed Artem Litosh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Astana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Everton Moraes 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Irtysh 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Ahmed Jahouh 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmed Jahouh, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Talgat Baizhanov for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Irtysh will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I watch every Irtysh game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Taraz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A mark of 7.48, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match24 Apr 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Zhetysu defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Maxim Orazov breaks a bone — 28 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match27 Mar 2027
6 matches without a win for Irtysh
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Irtysh are no longer polite ones.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Irtysh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 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 Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Jahouh 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 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 Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ibrahim Al-Hosani has just signed for Irtysh, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ahmed Jahouh 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Irtysh
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market8 Feb 2027
Irtysh shop where it costs nothing
Ramez Al-Attar signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
Market8 Feb 2027
Irtysh shop where it costs nothing
Ibrahim Al-Hosani signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Amir Mehdi Janmaleki, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Miras Zhaqsymbetov again, and this time the name on the line is Okzhetpes. Taraz are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kakeru Yamauchi and Taraz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
A move Agustín Sandoval would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Agustín Sandoval is living that version at Irtysh, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Hossein Saki 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 Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Agustín Sandoval and Irtysh agree another 3 years.