Marked for Majid Jahanbakhsh
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $57.6K of what Rah Ahan paid for Majid Jahanbakhsh is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
The terraces3 Sep 2029
Reza Ebrahimi has gone, the accounts have $270.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The dugout3 Sep 2029
Ivan Jurković: 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.” Rah Ahan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 26 gone
That is the business done at Rah Ahan until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rah Ahan have done the hard part with Gostaresh Foulad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad3 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Rah Ahan
Saeid Pouraliganji and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Sep 2029
The shirt still fits. Ramin Shojaei is back at Rah Ahan, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market3 Sep 2029
Business is business: Reza Ebrahimi goes
Saipa paid $270.0K and Rah Ahan took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Rah Ahan's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rah Ahan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match23 Dec 2028
Rah Ahan cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Rah Ahan
Saeid Pouraliganji 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 dugout25 Dec 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.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Rah Ahan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Majid Jahanbakhsh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Dec 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.
Match23 Dec 2028
Point won or two lost for Rah Ahan?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sepahan? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead25 Dec 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Parham Ghannad’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Rah Ahan needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Rah Ahan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rah Ahan has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Dec 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erfan Yousefzadeh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rah Ahan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match16 Dec 2028
Rah Ahan cannot find the net
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Rah Ahan
Saeid Pouraliganji and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Dec 2028
Foolad left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Market18 Dec 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Loan watch18 Dec 2028
“I did not go to Siah Jamegan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rah Ahan and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces6 Nov 2028
Anger at Rah Ahan 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.
Match6 Nov 2028
Rah Ahan sink to position 15
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market6 Nov 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.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Rah Ahan
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Rah Ahan is running low.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Saeid Pouraliganji 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.
Match4 Nov 2028
At last: Rah Ahan win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Esteghlal Ahvaz. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match4 Nov 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Karim Cheshmi. 1‑0 against Esteghlal Ahvaz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Rah Ahan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hojjat Ahmadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Oct 2028
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Rah Ahan
Saeid Pouraliganji 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Loan watch2 Oct 2028
“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 Rah Ahan, and 4 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
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 0‑1 Ramin Rezaeian left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alireza Karami 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 ratings2 Oct 2028
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Alireza Karami
“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 dugout2 Oct 2028
Vahid Dejagah 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 Vahid Dejagah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Sep 2028
Chastening afternoon for Rah Ahan
A 0‑4 beating by Padideh was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad25 Sep 2028
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.
Market25 Sep 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rah Ahan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Ali Mohammadi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Parham Ghannad
“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.
Market25 Sep 2028
Sirvan Ghorbani is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rah Ahan has been clear about where Sirvan Ghorbani stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Loan watch25 Sep 2028
“I watch every Rah Ahan game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Siah Jamegan runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ramin Rezaeian after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rah Ahan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market7 Aug 2028
Sepahan come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Rah Ahan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Ramin Rezaeian recited it perfectly.
Market7 Aug 2028
“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 Rah Ahan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
$210.0K on the table at Saipa. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Saeid Pouraliganji 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.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
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.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Rah Ahan
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.