Marked for Kaveh Cheshmi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi breaks a bone — 79 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sajjad Ashouri
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padideh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match20 Nov 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
The goals have deserted Padideh
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Padideh can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad22 Nov 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
A mark of 7.36, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match20 Nov 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Esteghlal came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi breaks a bone — 86 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Sajjad Ashouri damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match13 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Padideh
4 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.
Match13 Nov 2027
The goals have deserted Padideh
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Padideh can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad15 Nov 2027
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.
Loan watch15 Nov 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 0 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Nov 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi breaks a bone — 93 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Alireza Ebrahimi damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Nov 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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 Nov 2027
Padideh are in real trouble now
Position 14, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Nov 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Nov 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Alireza Ebrahimi damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Padideh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Padideh is running low.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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 ratings1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Oct 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi breaks a bone — 109 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Alireza Ebrahimi damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Kaveh Cheshmi breaks a bone — 118 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 118 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alireza Ebrahimi
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padideh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Oct 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 Oct 2027
Three points for Padideh, 1‑0 the final word against Foolad in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Ali Jahanbakhsh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amir Hossein Neshatjoo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alireza Ebrahimi
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padideh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Age has not caught Masoud Yazdani yet — 7.89
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market4 Oct 2027
Amir Yazdani 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 Padideh can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohammad Daneshgar and Padideh agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2027
Alireza Ebrahimi damages knee ligaments — 82 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 82 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.23, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Masoud Yazdani, 33, rolls back the years — 7.81
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Sajjad Ashouri: 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad13 Sep 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Sep 2027
Esteghlal Ahvaz made Padideh work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Shahriar Moharrami has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. 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
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alireza Ebrahimi
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padideh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Match28 Aug 2027
Three points for Padideh, 1‑0 the final word against Saipa in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Kalen Ryden 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Bernard Faye arrives from Baniyas with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alireza Ebrahimi
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padideh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Padideh
9 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Padideh say no — this time
The offer from Al-Fateh for Amir Karimi 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.
Market9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
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.
Match7 Aug 2027
The run at home goes on for Padideh
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amir Hossein Neshatjoo and Padideh agree another 2 years.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
Alireza Ebrahimi damages knee ligaments — 137 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 137 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Padideh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ahmad Rezaeian has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Padideh say no — this time
The offer from Zob Ahan for Amir Karimi 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.
Squad7 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saman Taremi, and the manager let it.
Market7 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Padideh will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad7 Jun 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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Padideh pull $127.0K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad24 May 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Amir Karimi 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.93, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Jan 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Jan 2027
Three points for Padideh, 2‑0 the final word against Siah Jamegan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes of Kaveh Cheshmi at his very best
Marked 8.24. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padideh.
Market11 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Padideh will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Reza Moharrami 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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
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
Steady
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 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.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
“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 18 matches say the rest.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Kaveh Cheshmi 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 Kaveh Cheshmi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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
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
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings23 Nov 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Padideh
6 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.
Squad23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saman Taremi, and the manager let it.
Loan watch23 Nov 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 13 say he has earned the hearing.
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
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Padideh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 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.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Naft Tehran to sit and watch. I want to come back to Padideh and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Squad2 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.90, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Padideh told Leonel Wamba something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Sardar Shojaei breaks a bone — 100 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 28 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Gostaresh Foulad left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch5 Oct 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 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
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
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sardar Shojaei breaks a bone — 114 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Aug 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 Padideh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 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 Padideh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Amir Karimi
At 22 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Padideh get the job done against Saipa
A 2‑0 win over Saipa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Saman Taremi 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.
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.