The Astana Courier
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Ramazan Kärimov scores twice — 8.66
Two goals and a mark of 8.66 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Astana tie Timur Beysebekov down
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
Market8 Mar 2027
So close: Josip Čondrić’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kairat moved on, Josip Čondrić reports back to Astana, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Rauno Sappinen signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rauno Sappinen commits to Astana for another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Home is on Karlo Bartolec's mind
“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; Astana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Älibek Qasym 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Astana
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Transfer targets8 Mar 2027
Astana rebuffed over Tiago Caballero
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Astana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market8 Mar 2027
Baktiyor Orazov steps up from the Astana academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Baktiyor Orazov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Market One of our own: Askhat Nuserbayev joins the Astana first team
- Market Erbol Shomko steps up from the Astana academy
- Squad 7 new faces, and Astana are still learning each other