Marked for César Ribeiro
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Akzhaiyk close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Akzhaiyk had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Astana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikhail Gabyshev and Akzhaiyk agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Erbol Kuat has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Akzhaiyk
Nikita Trapitsyn 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samat Zainutdinov 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.
The dugout1 Mar 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.
Market1 Mar 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Xidirdavlat Raimqulov arrives at Akzhaiyk with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market15 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 The request is on a desk at Akzhaiyk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market15 Feb 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Okzhetpes moved on, Islambek Tagybergen reports back to Akzhaiyk, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Askhat Vorogovskiy 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 targets15 Feb 2027
Akzhaiyk asked and Taraz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
César Ribeiro 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Okzhetpes have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad15 Feb 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Akzhaiyk are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody is after Samat Orazov’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Samat Orazov suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Akzhaiyk have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
Zhetysu come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Akzhaiyk did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Feb 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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
This is not rotation. Erbol Kuat has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kairat have kept their man, and Akzhaiyk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samat Zainutdinov 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.
Squad1 Feb 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Open for business: Akzhaiyk enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Samat Orazov has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Samat Orazov keeps the shirt for now, at Akzhaiyk's convenience rather than his own.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A season on the outside for César Ribeiro
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Akzhaiyk has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
Samat Orazov 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 Akzhaiyk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilya Cheryshev commits to Akzhaiyk for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout4 Jan 2027
This is not rotation. Erbol Kuat has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Akzhaiyk
Askhat Vorogovskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
Erbol Kuat 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 Akzhaiyk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Akzhaiyk
Ordabasy Abiken and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Ribeiro 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Askhat Vorogovskiy 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
César Ribeiro 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Akzhaiyk have made Erbol Kuat available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Timur Kuat
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Akzhaiyk will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad2 Nov 2026
César Ribeiro 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. César Ribeiro is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samat Zainutdinov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Akzhaiyk
Askhat Vorogovskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch12 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 Akzhaiyk, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Akzhaiyk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and César Ribeiro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Akzhaiyk
Askhat Vorogovskiy 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. César Ribeiro 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abzal Beysebekov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Akzhaiyk did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Akzhaiyk
Askhat Vorogovskiy 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Akzhaiyk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samat Zainutdinov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Kairat have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Ordabasy: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Ribeiro, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Akzhaiyk
0‑3 against Tobol, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
A cup hiding at Tobol leaves Akzhaiyk explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Akzhaiyk have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kairat have kept their man, and Akzhaiyk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Akzhaiyk
Askhat Vorogovskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Timur Kuat
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Samat Zainutdinov 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.