Marked for Rinat Postnikov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Apr 2030
The mood at Akzhaiyk has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market29 Apr 2030
“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.
Match29 Apr 2030
Every point is an argument now for Akzhaiyk
Position 11 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad29 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Shushenachev, and the manager let it.
Match27 Apr 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings29 Apr 2030
5.30 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Apr 2030
“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.
Market22 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Apr 2030
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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match20 Apr 2030
Samat Suyumbayev scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Astana, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“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.
Match20 Apr 2030
Akzhaiyk hit back inside 2 minutes
Astana held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Akzhaiyk answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Squad22 Apr 2030
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
A mark of 5.46 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Apr 2030
Aktobe ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.34, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market15 Apr 2030
“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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
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.
Match13 Apr 2030
It finished 3‑1, and it was Rinat Postnikov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Akzhaiyk.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Samat Suyumbayev 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.
The terraces15 Apr 2030
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Samat Suyumbayev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match13 Apr 2030
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Rinat Postnikov in the middle of it, and Kairat unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Squad15 Apr 2030
The manager makes an example of Abzal Orazov
“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
Market8 Apr 2030
Abzal 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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artur Shushenachev commits to Akzhaiyk for another 2 years.
Squad8 Apr 2030
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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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 terraces8 Apr 2030
At 17 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 Apr 2030
“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.
Match6 Apr 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ordabasy Logvinenko. 1‑0 against Zhetysu, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
7.42, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Akzhaiyk had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Market8 Apr 2030
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Denis Voychenko has his answer from Akzhaiyk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Apr 2030
The mood at Akzhaiyk has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match30 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for Akzhaiyk
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.
Market1 Apr 2030
“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 Apr 2030
A chastening introduction for Aibol Suyumbayev — 5.27
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.27 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match30 Mar 2030
A bad afternoon for Akzhaiyk against Tobol
0‑1 to Tobol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nurbol Suyumbayev, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“I want to play”: Abzal Orazov speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Mar 2030
No end in sight to Akzhaiyk's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Akzhaiyk has to find a result from somewhere.
Market25 Mar 2030
“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.
Market25 Mar 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denis Voychenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Abzal Orazov 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“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.
Match23 Mar 2030
A bad afternoon for Akzhaiyk against Atyrau
0‑1 to Atyrau, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rinat Suyumbayev commits to Akzhaiyk for another 3 years.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
5.22 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Mar 2030
Abzal Orazov: 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.” Akzhaiyk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Mar 2030
“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.
Match16 Mar 2030
4 matches without a win for Akzhaiyk
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Akzhaiyk are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match16 Mar 2030
A 2‑2 draw with Irtysh leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market18 Mar 2030
The Abzal Orazov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Akzhaiyk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Mar 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces11 Mar 2030
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 33 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad11 Mar 2030
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.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
Graduation day at Akzhaiyk
11 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match9 Mar 2030
Akzhaiyk 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.
Match9 Mar 2030
Ordabasy left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market11 Mar 2030
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maxim Islamkhan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market11 Mar 2030
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rinat Murtazaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Feb 2030
Abzal 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 Feb 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Feb 2030
The name of Abzal Orazov has come up in conversations Akzhaiyk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market25 Feb 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denis Voychenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Feb 2030
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 Feb 2030
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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
Crisis
Squad18 Feb 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Artur Shushenachev 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
Crisis
Squad4 Feb 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nurbol Logvinenko
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Akzhaiyk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Gafurzhan Taykenov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
The Akzhaiyk board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market4 Feb 2030
“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.
Market4 Feb 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Akzhaiyk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rinat Postnikov and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Feb 2030
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.
Market4 Feb 2030
Akzhaiyk have made Abzal Orazov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Jan 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nurbol Logvinenko
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Akzhaiyk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Jan 2030
“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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jan 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nurbol Logvinenko
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Akzhaiyk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom14 Jan 2030
Pressure builds in the Akzhaiyk boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The terraces14 Jan 2030
The mood at Akzhaiyk has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Gafurzhan Taykenov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
The Akzhaiyk board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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
Crisis
Boardroom17 Dec 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Akzhaiyk
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Akzhaiyk is running low.
The terraces17 Dec 2029
The mood at Akzhaiyk has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad17 Dec 2029
A fracture rules Bernard Odhiambo out for 107 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Akzhaiyk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Nov 2029
“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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad12 Nov 2029
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
Crisis
The terraces22 Oct 2029
The mood at Akzhaiyk has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom22 Oct 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Akzhaiyk
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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
Market10 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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
Crisis
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Akzhaiyk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Loan watch3 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christopher Ochieng, and the manager let it.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Akzhaiyk pull $498.2K back off the table
-
Boardroom
Akzhaiyk answer back
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sardorbek Erkinov and Akzhaiyk agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad20 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of Diego Muñoz
“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.
Market20 Aug 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Akzhaiyk will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
Market13 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Akzhaiyk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 Aug 2029
“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 ratings6 Aug 2029
A chastening introduction for Cristian Herrera — 5.53
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.53 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Market6 Aug 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Khalifa Mubarak 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match4 Aug 2029
0‑2 to Shakhter, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rinat Postnikov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
No sign of nerves from Azat Postnikov at 18 — 8.07
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Azat Postnikov did not need any: 8.07, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Rinat Postnikov, 34, rolls back the years — 8.17
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad23 Jul 2029
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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match21 Jul 2029
Three points for Akzhaiyk, 2‑0 the final word against Taraz in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market23 Jul 2029
The phone has started ringing about Erbol Logvinenko again, and this time the name on the line is Zhetysu. Akzhaiyk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Talgat Suyumbayev, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A Akzhaiyk teenager takes the young player award
Azat Postnikov is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Jul 2029
The wait goes on for Akzhaiyk
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.
Market9 Jul 2029
Akzhaiyk say no — this time
The offer from Zhetysu for Erbol Logvinenko 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rinat Postnikov and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rinat Postnikov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market9 Jul 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Timur Beysebekov has his answer from Akzhaiyk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match7 Jul 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Astana will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Jul 2029
The mood at Akzhaiyk has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Gafurzhan Taykenov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market2 Jul 2029
Akzhaiyk say no — this time
The offer from Kairat for Artur Shushenachev 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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Pressure builds in the Akzhaiyk boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market2 Jul 2029
“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.
Match30 Jun 2029
The wait goes on for Akzhaiyk
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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rinat Postnikov commits to Akzhaiyk for another 2 years.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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
Squad18 Jun 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kairat Akhmetov
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Akzhaiyk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Jun 2029
Akzhaiyk say no — this time
The offer from Ordabasy for Abzal Orazov 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Akzhaiyk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Khalifa Mubarak
“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.
Market18 Jun 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Akzhaiyk has been clear about where Baktiyor Postnikov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match16 Jun 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Tobol will be the happier side with the point.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 May 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 45 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Match26 May 2029
5 matches without a win for Akzhaiyk
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Akzhaiyk are no longer polite ones.
Market28 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erbol Logvinenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 May 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad28 May 2029
“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.
Match26 May 2029
Ordabasy left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings28 May 2029
5.22 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 May 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 66 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
The terraces7 May 2029
Anger at Akzhaiyk spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market7 May 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Akzhaiyk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 May 2029
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khalifa Mubarak and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
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.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Nurbol Suyumbayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. 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.
Match5 May 2029
A 2‑2 draw with Taraz leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings7 May 2029
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
Squad30 Apr 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 73 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Market30 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Akzhaiyk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Match28 Apr 2029
A bad afternoon for Akzhaiyk against Aktobe
0‑2 to Aktobe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“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 terraces30 Apr 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Rinat Postnikov
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Apr 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 87 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Match14 Apr 2029
Nowhere to hide for Akzhaiyk
0‑3 against Kairat, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market16 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Abzal Orazov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abzal Orazov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match14 Apr 2029
The wait goes on for Akzhaiyk
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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
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.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
Nobody left the Akzhaiyk dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Squad9 Apr 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
The terraces9 Apr 2029
Anger at Akzhaiyk spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match4 Apr 2029
The cup run ends for Akzhaiyk
2‑3 against Aktobe, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market9 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Baktiyor Postnikov did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
A chastening introduction for Mamuka Kvilitaia — 5.70
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.70 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Market9 Apr 2029
“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.
Match7 Apr 2029
The wait goes on for Akzhaiyk
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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
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
Crisis
Squad26 Mar 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 108 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
0‑3 to Atyrau, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market26 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Akzhaiyk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Mar 2029
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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“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.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
4.25. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Marked 5.35. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Feb 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 136 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 136 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.
Match26 Feb 2029
Every point is an argument now for Akzhaiyk
Position 10 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market26 Feb 2029
“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.
Market26 Feb 2029
The name of Abzal Orazov has come up in conversations Akzhaiyk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market26 Feb 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad26 Feb 2029
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.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
-
Squad
Abzal Orazov gets it from the manager
-
Market
Ordabasy are about to pick up the phone
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Feb 2029
Kairat Akhmetov damages knee ligaments — 150 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 150 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.
The terraces12 Feb 2029
Anger at Akzhaiyk spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
Pressure builds in the Akzhaiyk boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market12 Feb 2029
Akzhaiyk say no — this time
The offer from Shakhter for Rinat Postnikov 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Serikzhan Logvinenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Baurzhan Baizhanov 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Akzhaiyk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Feb 2029
Asaeli Tunidau damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Akzhaiyk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Crisis meeting at Akzhaiyk
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market5 Feb 2029
Akzhaiyk say no — this time
The offer from Zhetysu for Abzal Orazov 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Rinat Postnikov 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 Feb 2029
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Market5 Feb 2029
Add another name to the list: Zhetysu have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Erbol Logvinenko. The answer from Akzhaiyk has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Akzhaiyk know it.
Market5 Feb 2029
The shop window has Abzal Orazov in it
Akzhaiyk have let the market know Abzal Orazov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Jan 2029
Asaeli Tunidau damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erbol Logvinenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Dec 2028
Asaeli Tunidau damages knee ligaments — 92 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Market11 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Rinat Postnikov 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
Squad4 Dec 2028
Asaeli Tunidau damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Akzhaiyk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match4 Dec 2028
Every point is an argument now for Akzhaiyk
Position 10 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The Akzhaiyk board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rinat Postnikov and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
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
Crisis
The terraces20 Nov 2028
Anger at Akzhaiyk spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Asaeli Tunidau
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Akzhaiyk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Akzhaiyk
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Asaeli Tunidau
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Akzhaiyk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Artur Shushenachev 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
Crisis
Market30 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Akzhaiyk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Artur Shushenachev 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
Crisis
The terraces23 Oct 2028
Anger at Akzhaiyk spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Pressure builds in the Akzhaiyk boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad23 Oct 2028
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
Crisis
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
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.
Market2 Oct 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erbol Logvinenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Akzhaiyk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khalifa Mubarak and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Artur Shushenachev 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Serikzhan Logvinenko, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
$930.9K taken back off the Akzhaiyk table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
$13.6K a year onto the Akzhaiyk books
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
Market2 Oct 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Morteza Nekounam may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Jul 2028
Beaten 0‑4 by Aktobe, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match17 Jul 2028
Akzhaiyk sink to position 10
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 ratings17 Jul 2028
A chastening introduction for Maxim Tymoshchuk — 5.56
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.56 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Akzhaiyk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 Jul 2028
Ordabasy 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandr Marochkin 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Rinat Postnikov
“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
Match21 Jun 2028
The small margins put Akzhaiyk out
Out, 1‑2 to Astana, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
A brace, and Marko Živanović takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marko Živanović provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 terraces26 Jun 2028
Fear has settled over Akzhaiyk
Position 10, 13 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
Market26 Jun 2028
Taraz 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Aleksandr Marochkin 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.
Match24 Jun 2028
A 2‑0 win over Zhetysu, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match24 Jun 2028
Zhetysu blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Zhetysu tried to reorganise, Akzhaiyk did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
“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.
Match19 Jun 2028
Akzhaiyk sink to position 10
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match17 Jun 2028
No end in sight to Akzhaiyk's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Akzhaiyk has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Jun 2028
The phone has started ringing about Ordabasy Suyumbayev again, and this time the name on the line is Irtysh. Akzhaiyk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandr Marochkin 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rinat Postnikov, and the manager let it.
Market19 Jun 2028
Borneo are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Akzhaiyk will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.73 on the card, and the Akzhaiyk support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jun 2028
“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.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.29, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market5 Jun 2028
Tony has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Akzhaiyk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Akzhaiyk
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“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.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Tony has agreed terms with Kairat for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Rinat Postnikov 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Akzhaiyk will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Akzhaiyk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandr Marochkin 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.