Marked for Erbol Akhmetov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Akzhaiyk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Akzhaiyk
Yeldos Akhmetov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
36 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Akzhaiyk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Akzhaiyk
Timur Murtazaev 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Yeldos Akhmetov 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 Oct 2026
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market5 Oct 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Baurzhan Zainutdinov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Erbol Nuserbayev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Dauren Nurgaliev’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Akzhaiyk
Yeldos Akhmetov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zhetysu have kept their man, and Akzhaiyk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Timur Murtazaev for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Akzhaiyk will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad31 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
Akzhaiyk say no — this time
The offer from Irtysh for Erbol Akhmetov 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Akzhaiyk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Akzhaiyk
Yeldos Akhmetov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zhetysu have kept their man, and Akzhaiyk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout24 Aug 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.