Marked for Nurali Postnikov
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Noam Ben-Harush 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 May 2027
A 1‑0 win over Ordabasy, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings17 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 May 2027
“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 watch17 May 2027
“I watch every Irtysh game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Aktobe runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 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 The request is on a desk at Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Feb 2027
Irtysh say no — this time
The offer from Taraz for Abzal Nurgaliev 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Noam Ben-Harush 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Azat Taykenov again, and this time the name on the line is Shakhter. Irtysh are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Yeldos Taykenov
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
6 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
Market31 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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Ezequiel Viola 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
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.04, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.24 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Ordabasy Tagybergen 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Maxim Baizhanov among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Maxim Baizhanov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Irtysh and Ordabasy.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erbol Dosmagambetov 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.
Squad3 Aug 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Askhat Vorogovskiy was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Okzhetpes have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Azat Taykenov. The answer from Irtysh has not changed — yet.