Marked for Masoud Ghoddos
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Padideh
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Reza Moharrami 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Padideh cannot find the net
4 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Fernando Rodriguez 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.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Naft Tehran to sit and watch. I want to come back to Padideh and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammad Hossein Moradmand, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 7.32. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi 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
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Padideh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a win for Padideh
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Padideh are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Mohammed Reza Azadi 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 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for Padideh
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Masoud Ghoddos, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Hassan Sani Mohamed is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Marked 7.03. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Reza Moharrami 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Gostaresh Foulad left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Reza Moharrami
“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.
Loan watch18 Jan 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 Padideh, and 3 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alireza Ebrahimi will call it something else in private.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Amir Karimi changes it off the bench
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Padideh had a different afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Reza Moharrami 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 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sardar Shojaei, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A mark of 7.31, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Hassan Sani Mohamed
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hassan Sani Mohamed has come out of that comparison in the side, and Padideh have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Padideh will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Masoud Yazdani, and the manager let it.
Match19 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kaveh Cheshmi. 1‑0 against Esteghlal Ahvaz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
“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 Padideh, and 2 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match12 Dec 2026
Chastening afternoon for Padideh
A 0‑3 beating by Tractor was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
26 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom14 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Hassan Sani Mohamed: 5 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match2 Dec 2026
Padideh march on in the cup
Sepahan are out and Padideh go through, 2‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mohammad Daneshgar 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Leonel Wamba’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Padideh.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Vahid Beiranvand: 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.” Padideh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Leonel Wamba’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Padideh.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Padideh's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Padideh has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
55 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Sardar Shojaei
“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
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Padideh
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Padideh are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Reza Moharrami 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammad Hossein Moradmand, and the manager let it.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Turki Al-Ghamil: 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.” Padideh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Sardar Shojaei breaks a bone — 107 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Reza Moharrami 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Padideh, 2‑0 the final word against Siah Jamegan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Masoud Ghoddos
“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 ratings28 Sep 2026
7.91, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Padideh had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Sardar Shojaei out for 124 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Sep 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 Padideh can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Turki Al-Ghamil 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.
Squad14 Sep 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Rah Ahan leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Padideh, and it is a cruel one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Mohammadi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Reza Moharrami 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Padideh cannot find the net
3 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kaveh Cheshmi, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Kalen Ryden 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Majid Mohammadi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Padideh.
Market17 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Padideh
Kalen Ryden arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Match15 Aug 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Naft Tehran came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Alireza Ebrahimi
Nobody at Padideh is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.