Marked for Khalid Juma
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom9 Jul 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Esteghlal Khuzestan
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Ali Al-Mahdawi out for 69 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Esteghlal Khuzestan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Jul 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Esteghlal Khuzestan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fernando Hernandez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Esteghlal Khuzestan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market9 Jul 2029
Saba come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Esteghlal Khuzestan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Khalid Juma: 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.” Esteghlal Khuzestan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Ehsan Khodadad has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Esteghlal Khuzestan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Ali Al-Mahdawi breaks a bone — 105 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Esteghlal Khuzestan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Jun 2029
The name of Ehsan Shojaei has come up in conversations Esteghlal Khuzestan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Mohammad Sharifi 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 Jun 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Khalid Juma and Esteghlal Khuzestan agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Erfan Sazegari 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.
Market4 Jun 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Esteghlal Khuzestan has been clear about where Mohammad Ahleshakheh stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 May 2029
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.
Market21 May 2029
“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 Esteghlal Khuzestan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esteghlal Khuzestan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces23 Apr 2029
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.
Market23 Apr 2029
Ehsan Shojaei 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 Esteghlal Khuzestan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esteghlal Khuzestan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Mar 2029
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.
Market26 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Esteghlal Khuzestan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esteghlal Khuzestan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Feb 2029
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esteghlal Khuzestan has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Esteghlal Khuzestan
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market19 Feb 2029
Ehsan Shojaei 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 Esteghlal Khuzestan can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Esteghlal Khuzestan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Vahid Noorafkan: 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.” Esteghlal Khuzestan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match17 Feb 2029
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Esteghlal Khuzestan can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Mohammad Sharifi 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Esteghlal Khuzestan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamid Bouhamdan 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Khalid Juma
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Jan 2029
“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 Esteghlal Khuzestan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Esteghlal Khuzestan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match13 Jan 2029
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esteghlal Khuzestan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esteghlal Khuzestan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Hamid Bouhamdan 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 ratings15 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Khalid Juma gets it from the manager
“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.
Market15 Jan 2029
Saba are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Esteghlal Khuzestan will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match13 Jan 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Persepolis leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Jan 2029
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market8 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Jan 2029
221 appearances across 8 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Esteghlal Khuzestan know what they have.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Esteghlal Khuzestan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match6 Jan 2029
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Esteghlal Khuzestan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Esteghlal Khuzestan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamid Bouhamdan 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 ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Aref Rostami 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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Dec 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esteghlal Khuzestan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Hamid Bouhamdan 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 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khalid Juma, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Hamid Bouhamdan dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Esteghlal Khuzestan is running low.
Market30 Oct 2028
Ashkan Ghoddos has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Esteghlal Khuzestan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Mohammad Sharifi 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Khalid Juma gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Oct 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match2 Oct 2028
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Esteghlal Khuzestan
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market2 Oct 2028
Ashkan Ghoddos has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Esteghlal Khuzestan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aram Abbasi and Esteghlal Khuzestan agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Aref Rostami 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
0‑1 to Persepolis, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
Khalid Juma gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Khalid Juma has just signed for Esteghlal Khuzestan, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Mohammad Sharifi 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Persepolis are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Esteghlal Khuzestan will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market5 Jun 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Keykhosro Siahpour has his answer from Esteghlal Khuzestan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.