From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Nov 2027
88 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market1 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aktobe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Vitalii Laturnus asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Oct 2027
Clinton N'jie: 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.” Aktobe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ivan Ordets commits to Aktobe for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 117 days on the sidelines for Temirlan Erlanov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aktobe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ivan Ordets has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Ivan Ordets keeps the shirt for now, at Aktobe's convenience rather than his own.
Market13 Sep 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Abdulvohid G'ulomov arrives at Aktobe with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ken Krolicki asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Aktobe spent the window trying to move Temirlan Erlanov on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Danilo Mitrović has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
148 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market6 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aktobe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Aktobe that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 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 Aktobe can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Aug 2027
Neftchi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Aktobe did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market9 Aug 2027
Ken Krolicki is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aktobe has been clear about where Ken Krolicki stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match10 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Aktobe
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
94% of the income goes out in wages at Aktobe
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market12 Jul 2027
Experience through the door at Aktobe
Ülan Konysbaev arrives at 38 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Match10 Jul 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Akzhaiyk came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market12 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aktobe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market12 Jul 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Karam Sūltanov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Clinton N'jie has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Clinton N'jie keeps the shirt for now, at Aktobe's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Jun 2027
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match12 Jun 2027
Three points for Aktobe, 1-0 the final word against Taraz in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages eat 105% 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.
Squad14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
One booking too many, and Georgii Zhukov sits out. Aktobe lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Market14 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aktobe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 May 2027
Talğat Kusiapov: 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.” Aktobe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Danilo Mitrović
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Temirlan Erlanov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2027
4 matches without a win for Aktobe
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Aktobe are no longer polite ones.
Squad10 May 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.
Match8 May 2027
Aktobe and Tobol take a point apiece
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Ordets and Aktobe agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market8 Mar 2027
The shirt still fits. Rinat Tagybergen is back at Aktobe, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market8 Mar 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market8 Mar 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market8 Mar 2027
The shirt still fits. Abzal Kuat is back at Aktobe, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad8 Mar 2027
111 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 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 Aktobe can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Mar 2027
The name of Pablo Álvarez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aktobe say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Marc Gual keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Marc Gual plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
137% of the income goes out in wages at Aktobe
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad25 Jan 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Nikita Korzun is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aktobe has been clear about where Nikita Korzun stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Danilo Mitrović has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Aktobe that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Danilo Mitrović has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A welcome sight on the training pitch: Alexandr Zarutskii has come through recovery and is pushing for a place again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Alexandr Zarutskii, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
300% of the income goes out in wages at Aktobe
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad2 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
The name of Artur Shushenachev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aktobe say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 44 days on the sidelines for Igor' Trofimets, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Danilo Mitrović has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A welcome sight on the training pitch: Bağdat Qaiyrov has come through recovery and is pushing for a place again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Danilo Mitrović
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The name of Pablo Álvarez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aktobe say nothing, which says plenty.
Market14 Sep 2026
Aktobe spent the window trying to move Artur Shushenachev on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
498% of the income goes out in wages at Aktobe
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Danilo Mitrović. Aktobe will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Danilo Mitrović asks for a word with the manager
“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.