Marked for Yeldos Baizhanov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for Akzhaiyk
14 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Nurali Baizhanov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom3 Jul 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.
Squad3 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.
Loan watch3 Jul 2028
“I watch every Akzhaiyk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ordabasy runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The team sheet said everything about Yeldos Akhmetov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Yeldos Akhmetov.
Squad3 Jul 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nurbol Baizhanov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match1 Jul 2028
It needed Ordabasy Tagybergen to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Kairat, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ofoin Jackson, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces8 May 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Match6 May 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rintaro Yajima and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 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.
Loan watch8 May 2028
“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 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Match6 May 2028
A bad afternoon for Akzhaiyk against Taraz
0‑1 to Taraz, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad8 May 2028
“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.
Player ratings8 May 2028
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.
Squad8 May 2028
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Akzhaiyk have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Ordabasy
10 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.
Market17 Apr 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Apr 2028
69 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Yeldos Baizhanov: 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.” Ordabasy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Léo Natel in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Marked 8.33 — 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
It needed Dimitar Mitkov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Astana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Apr 2028
Akzhaiyk through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Shakhter, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Ordabasy Tagybergen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad10 Apr 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
0‑1 to Zhetysu, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Baktiyor Zainutdinov commits to Akzhaiyk for another 3 years.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch10 Apr 2028
“I watch every Akzhaiyk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ordabasy runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom14 Feb 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Feb 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
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.
Market14 Feb 2028
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Akzhaiyk could get for him.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
Aktobe come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ordabasy did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Léo Natel 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The name of Bekkhan Shaizada keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ordabasy say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Akzhaiyk that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Squad15 Nov 2027
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
Squad9 Aug 2027
Léo Natel 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 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to El'khan Astanov, and the manager let it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ordabasy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jul 2027
Akzhaiyk are in real trouble now
Position 12, 15 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Akzhaiyk's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Akzhaiyk has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 82 days on the sidelines for Rintaro Yajima, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Yassine Abdelali 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.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch5 Jul 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 Akzhaiyk, and 6 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Baktiyor Abiken knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Jun 2027
Ordabasy march on in the cup
Atyrau are out and Ordabasy go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market28 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 Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Defensive actions: 27, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Léo Natel 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 Jun 2027
Pierre Akono 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.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Ordabasy had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 May 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 Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 May 2027
Ordabasy cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad10 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 Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 May 2027
Three points for Ordabasy, 2‑1 the final word against Shakhter in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A performance of 8.99 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Marked 8.99 — 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.
Squad10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to El'khan Astanov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Ordabasy needed to.
The terraces10 May 2027
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
Match1 May 2027
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.
Market3 May 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 Akzhaiyk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch3 May 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 Akzhaiyk, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 May 2027
“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 May 2027
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad3 May 2027
Yeldos Kuat 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 Akzhaiyk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings3 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Ordabasy
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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Léo Natel 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“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 ratings12 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Yeldos Baizhanov: 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.” Ordabasy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match3 Apr 2027
4 matches without a win for Ordabasy
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ordabasy are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yusuke Chajima commits to Ordabasy for another 2 years.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Léo Natel in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to El'khan Astanov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Léo Natel 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bekkhan Shaizada, and the manager let it.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Mar 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ordabasy know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and El'khan Astanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Feb 2027
Ordabasy say no — this time
The offer from Astana for Yurii Vakulko 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Léo Natel in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Qazhymūqan Tölepbergen, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Akzhaiyk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 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.
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gafurzhan Tymoshchuk, and the manager let it.
Market1 Feb 2027
Persita 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Akzhaiyk would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Feb 2027
Léo Natel 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 Yurii Vakulko again, and this time the name on the line is Astana. Ordabasy are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market1 Feb 2027
The Léo Natel story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Léo Natel signs something — a contract at Ordabasy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 55 days on the sidelines for Rintaro Yajima, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Amir Ben-Shimon 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
The manager makes an example of Rintaro Yajima
“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
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Aktobe
Ajdin Zeljković 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
Yeldos Baizhanov is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Artur Shushenachev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 83 days on the sidelines for Rintaro Yajima, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yakov Matveev and Akzhaiyk agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
77 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Amir Ben-Shimon 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 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gafurzhan Tymoshchuk, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 403% of everything Aktobe earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Aktobe know it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Aktobe
Pablo Álvarez 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.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Aktobe would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Aktobe
Ajdin Zeljković was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Aktobe know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aktobe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Po'latxo'ja Xoldorxonov keeps the shirt for now, at Aktobe's convenience rather than his own.
Market14 Sep 2026
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Yeldos Baizhanov arrives from Akzhaiyk 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
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
107 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 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 Akzhaiyk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 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 watch14 Sep 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 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Baktiyor Abiken keeps the shirt for now, at Akzhaiyk's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Akzhaiyk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Rintaro Yajima 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
149 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.