From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Timur Logvinenko commits to Irtysh for another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yerkebulan Suyumbayev and Irtysh agree another 4 years.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Erbol Akhmetov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I watch every Irtysh game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zhetysu runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Erbol Akhmetov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Erbol Akhmetov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager plants his flag on Nurali Orazov
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Nurali Orazov’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Irtysh 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.
Squad9 Nov 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Baurzhan Vorogovskiy plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
The name of Erbol Akhmetov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Nurbol Baizhanov has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Gafurzhan Vorogovskiy, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Zhetysu to sit and watch. I want to come back to Irtysh and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Azat Akhmetov has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Nurali Orazov has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A welcome sight on the training pitch: Aibol Nurgaliev has come through recovery and is pushing for a place again.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Islambek Abiken and Irtysh agree another 3 years.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Irtysh 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.
Squad12 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rinat Islamkhan and Irtysh agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market5 Oct 2026
The name of Erbol Akhmetov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Rinat Logvinenko 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nurbol Baizhanov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ken Krolicki is out on the grass again
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Irtysh will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nurbol Baizhanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Sep 2026
Everyone has stopped pretending: Zhetysu will make the call about Timur Logvinenko this week. Irtysh have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
Islambek Nurgaliev has left for Aktobe in a $160.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Irtysh will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Ordabasy come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Irtysh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market31 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Aktobe have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Islambek Nurgaliev. The answer from Irtysh has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samat Beysebekov and Irtysh agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
Irtysh out of the cup
Okzhetpes ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ordabasy Nurgaliev and Irtysh agree another 3 years.
Market17 Aug 2026
Irtysh have let the market know Kairat Baizhanov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad17 Aug 2026
At 19 years old, Marat Orazov became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gafurzhan Tagybergen commits to Irtysh for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 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.
Squad10 Aug 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market3 Aug 2026
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Baurzhan Akhmetov and Irtysh agree another 2 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Ordabasy, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Irtysh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Nurbol Baizhanov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Irtysh.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gafurzhan Tagybergen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Kairat Murtazaev’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.