Sherkhan Kalmurza 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Vasiliy Sovpel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Okzhetpes, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Okzhetpes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Qobylandy Kamariden will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Qobylandy Kamariden is on it.
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.
Borys Lototskyi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Okzhetpes than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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 Nūrğaini Böribaev is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Sirotkin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
“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; Okzhetpes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Okzhetpes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Okzhetpes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Sherkhan Kalmurza was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Okzhetpes will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The clubs have shaken hands with Kairat; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Okzhetpes until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
Okzhetpes asked and Shakhter said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Okzhetpes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Okzhetpes can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammed Ensebaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Okzhetpes 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Okzhetpes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Okzhetpes have done the hard part with Kairat, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Okzhetpes asked and Kairat said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
Luizão was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“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; Okzhetpes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Okzhetpes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Taraz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Okzhetpes and Kairat have settled on $250.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kairat have kept their man, and Okzhetpes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Rustam Vazitdinov has his answer from Okzhetpes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Okzhetpes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Okzhetpes 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.
Position 8 on 28 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vasiliy Sovpel provided it, and the 8.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 7.98 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Add another name to the list: Akzhaiyk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Qobylandy Kamariden. The answer from Okzhetpes has not changed — yet.
“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; Okzhetpes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tobol have kept their man, and Okzhetpes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
$260.0K on the table at Kairat. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Sherkhan Kalmurza 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 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Okzhetpes know it.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Akzhaiyk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Okzhetpes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Okzhetpes offered $260.0K; Kairat said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Okzhetpes and Ordabasy in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Okzhetpes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything was agreed with Tobol and then the doctor spoke. Okzhetpes have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Okzhetpes have gone to Kairat with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Taraz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Okzhetpes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baktiyor Orazov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Okzhetpes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Okzhetpes, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Okzhetpes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vasiliy Sovpel. 3‑2 against Taraz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
A 2‑1 win over Astana, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match23 Jun 2027
Vasiliy Sovpel wins it after the whistle should have gone
112 minutes played. Vasiliy Sovpel found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Astana went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Okzhetpes people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Okzhetpes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
“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; Okzhetpes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Toqtar Zhańğylyshbai provided it, and the 8.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Okzhetpes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.43, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baktiyor Orazov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Okzhetpes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammed Ensebaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Okzhetpes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Sherkhan Kalmurza was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
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 Zhalğas Zhaqsylyqov is on it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Okzhetpes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vladislav Vasiljev. 3‑1 against Atyrau, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Match15 May 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Okzhetpes. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baktiyor Orazov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Akzhaiyk in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Okzhetpes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Sherkhan Kalmurza was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Borys Lototskyi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Baktiyor Orazov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Okzhetpes scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
6.99, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Baktiyor Orazov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Two goals and a mark of 8.49 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
Borys Lototskyi 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.
“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 Apr 2027
7 new faces, and Okzhetpes are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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; Okzhetpes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Okzhetpes told Sherkhan Kalmurza something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Okzhetpes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sherkhan Kalmurza was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Borys Lototskyi and Okzhetpes agree another 3 years.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohammed Ensebaev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Okzhetpes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aibol Murtazaev 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.
0‑1 to Astana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Baktiyor Orazov left the room before anybody could ask which.
8 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Astana.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Baktiyor Orazov to a room that had heard them before.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Okzhetpes that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammed Ensebaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.49 for the rest of it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Kuzmichev, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Luizão was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
8 new faces, and Okzhetpes are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutLéo is still being punished for one mistake
The offer from Astana for Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Baurzhan Taykenov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Islambek Logvinenko has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Okzhetpes people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Okzhetpes close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Add another name to the list: Astana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov. The answer from Okzhetpes has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aibol Murtazaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Okzhetpes know which stage they are at.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Qobylandy Kamariden and Okzhetpes agree another 4 years.
Qobylandy Kamariden was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Add another name to the list: Zhetysu have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mohammed Ensebaev. The answer from Okzhetpes has not changed — yet.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The deal with Kairat is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Vasiliy Sovpel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergey Harutyunyan has just signed for Okzhetpes, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Vomenko 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.
The offer from Ordabasy for Vladislav Vasiljev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The fee is $150.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Akzhaiyk drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Okzhetpes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Akzhaiyk have accepted the money. What Okzhetpes do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Okzhetpes know it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Okzhetpes has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
A new face in his position, and Ivan Kuzmichev suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Okzhetpes have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Neto has just signed for Okzhetpes, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Okzhetpes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ivan Sirotkin is living that version at Okzhetpes, and it tends to show in the first month.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Qobylandy Kamariden 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nūrğaini Böribaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Okzhetpes and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viktor Ziabko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Okzhetpes will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rustam Vazitdinov and Okzhetpes agree another 3 years.
In brief
SquadWords at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov and Okzhetpes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Okzhetpes know it.
In brief
SquadWords at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nūrğaini Böribaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Qobylandy Kamariden and Okzhetpes agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Luizão has just signed for Okzhetpes, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
He is 20, and nobody at Okzhetpes signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Filip Stanić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Zhalğas Zhaqsylyqov has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nūrğaini Böribaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viktor Ziabko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Okzhetpes know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
22 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Okzhetpes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Qobylandy Kamariden was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Okzhetpes are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Okzhetpes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Okzhetpes could ask drops and the wages Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov can ask rise.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viktor Ziabko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Vasiliy Sovpel 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Okzhetpes close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal with Taraz is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Filip Stanić 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
20 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Pakhtakor is saying, and nobody at Okzhetpes is enjoying the guessing.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mohammed Ensebaev has agreed terms with Kairat for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Filip Stanić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Borodin 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Okzhetpes know which stage they are at.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Oralkhan Ömirtaev has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nūrğaini Böribaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Okzhetpes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Okzhetpes, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Zhansūltan Mūkhametzhanov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Vasiliy Sovpel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Okzhetpes asked and Navbahor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Okzhetpes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Vomenko 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.
The deal with Navbahor is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Taraz have kept their man, and Okzhetpes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Okzhetpes have made the call to Akhmat Grozny. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Islambek Nurgaliev and Okzhetpes agree another 3 years.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Okzhetpes could ask drops and the wages Nūrğaini Böribaev can ask rise.
In brief
The dugoutNurali Kuat knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Okzhetpes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Okzhetpes had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Navbahor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ordabasy have kept their man, and Okzhetpes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baktiyor Orazov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mashal is saying, and nobody at Okzhetpes is enjoying the guessing.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Viktor Ziabko has agreed terms with Tobol for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Dmitriy Borodin 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aibol Akhmetov 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rinat Abiken has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Islambek Tymoshchuk is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Baktiyor Shomko 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Okzhetpes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Okzhetpes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.