The Astana Courier
Market19 Feb 2029
Alexis Steimbach puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Astana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Feb 2029
45 days out for Timur Pukhov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Astana
Älibek Qasym and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Kevin Arévalo 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Astana sign Danil Makushenko, one for the future
Danil Makushenko is 20, and Astana have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Askhat Postnikov stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Askhat Postnikov and Astana agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
Jorginho gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jorginho is on it.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Askhat 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Astana borrow Yeldos Baizhanov
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Yeldos Baizhanov arrives from Kairat with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
In brief
- The dugout Yeldos Vorogovskiy asks for a word with the manager
- The dugout Ramazan Kärimov keeps his manager's vote