Marked for Askhat Postnikov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Dec 2035
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Irtysh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 Dec 2035
A falling-out at Irtysh
Sənan Ağalarov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Dec 2035
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 dugout24 Dec 2035
The manager makes an example of Abdullah Juma
“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.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
Aibol Nuserbayev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jaloliddin Tukhtasinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces19 Nov 2035
Supporters organise against the Irtysh board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad19 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Makhach Abdulkhamidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Nov 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
“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.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
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 Islambek Tymoshchuk is on it.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Oct 2035
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Market8 Oct 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Oct 2035
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.
Squad8 Oct 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Erkebūlan Rakhmetulla and Irtysh agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Ferdiansyah Surya and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout8 Oct 2035
“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
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2035
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Irtysh lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makhach Abdulkhamidov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad1 Oct 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Serikzhan Tymoshchuk and Irtysh agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 Oct 2035
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Darkhan Berdibek is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Oct 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Serikzhan Tymoshchuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Oct 2035
Aibol Nuserbayev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2035
A knee injury of the worst kind for Talgat Logvinenko
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Irtysh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces12 Mar 2035
Supporters organise against the Irtysh board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad12 Mar 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match10 Mar 2035
No end in sight to Irtysh's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Irtysh has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“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.
Boardroom12 Mar 2035
8 academy graduates step up at Irtysh
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.
Squad12 Mar 2035
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Makhach Abdulkhamidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Mar 2035
Astana left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Mar 2035
Olzhas Ädil 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 Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces5 Jun 2034
Supporters organise against the Irtysh board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad5 Jun 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Makhach Abdulkhamidov commits to Irtysh for another 2 years.
Squad5 Jun 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Rodrigues 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.
Match3 Jun 2034
Astana left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Jun 2034
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings5 Jun 2034
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout5 Jun 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Askhat Postnikov, and the manager let it.