The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Esteghlal Khuzestan will replay every second of the added time for a week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Saba will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 13 on 26 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.
Younes Shakeri 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Amirreza Changalvaei 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hossein Mehraban. 1‑0 against Esteghlal Khuzestan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
Position 14 and 23 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Saba will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Saba asked and Sport Recife said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alireza Homaeifard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alireza Haghighi will call it something else in private.
2‑6 to Zob Ahan, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Real Cartagena is saying, and nobody at Saba is enjoying the guessing.
8 goals in one match, Younes Shakeri on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Saba and Zob Ahan.
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 or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Beaten 1‑5 by Esteghlal, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Saba close the window on a squad of their own making
3 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Honved is saying, and nobody at Saba is enjoying the guessing.
Amir Shahim 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.
6 goals in one match, Amir Shahim on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Saba and Esteghlal.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammad Hossein Moradmand 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Saba pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Saba dressing room in a hurry
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Hossein Moradmand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Saba told Alireza Ebrahimi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout25 Jan 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 1‑2 Sardar Beiranvand left the room before anybody could ask which.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A brace, and Amir Shahim takes the afternoon — 9.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amir Shahim provided it, and the 9.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The chase for Majid Nekounam ended with $310.0K changing hands and Siah Jamegan out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Majid Nekounam from Siah Jamegan for $310.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
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.
Marked 9.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Saba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Saba have done the hard part with Siah Jamegan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
At 20 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 Mohammad Hossein Moradmand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Shahriar Gholizadeh 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alireza Haghighi will call it something else in private.
19 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Gostaresh Foulad were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Saba scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alireza Homaeifard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hakim Nasari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Raouf Soltani 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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 0‑5 defeat, delivered by Sardar Beiranvand to a room that had heard them before.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
17 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saman Azmoun 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Reza Noorafkan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Hakim Nasari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
16 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Saba have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Amir Shahim 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
15 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
Tractor left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Hakim Nasari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hakim Nasari has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hakim Nasari 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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sardar Beiranvand after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Saba, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Saipa defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
In brief
The dugoutAmin Heydari has become a man the manager trusts
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Darzi 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 needed Arash Hashemi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Naft Tehran, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sardar Beiranvand was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Saba dressing room was either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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. Ramin Karimi 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.
Half the programme played, position 13, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hakim Nasari 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.
Something was said to Rahim Alboughobaish and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sardar Beiranvand after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Saba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Saba and Zob Ahan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hakim Nasari 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Saba will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Esteghlal kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Saba will be asked about the last half hour all week.
He is 23 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.
“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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Saba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
At 20 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.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Saba can tell you which week it ends in.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mehdi Ghoddos 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. Sardar Hajsafi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Saba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
22 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Daniel Darzi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba 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 Mohammad Hossein Moradmand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 0‑2 Sardar Beiranvand left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Saba is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
In brief
The dugoutAmin Heydari has become a man the manager trusts
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Saba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Gostaresh Foulad kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Saba will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Amir Shahim takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amir Shahim provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammad Hossein Moradmand 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 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Amir Shahim 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Saba will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Podbrezova have kept their man, and Saba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Morteza Pouraliganji 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mohammad Gholizadeh is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Saba are taken apart by Tractor — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-5. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 34 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Saba 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.
Amir Shahim 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Saba and Tractor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Riyadh have kept their man, and Saba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Saba ran out of time with Siah Jamegan. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Saba have done the hard part with Siah Jamegan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Aria Hosseinifard from Esteghlal for $310.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Diriyah have kept their man, and Saba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular relief in a club addressing the thing its own crowd has been shouting about. Aria Hosseinifard arrives for exactly that job, and now he has to do it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ofer Gelbard 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.
92 minutes played. Hossein Mehraban found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Esteghlal Ahvaz went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Saba have gone to Esteghlal 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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.
Saba asked and Almirante Brown said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Tractor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Hakim Nasari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Amir Shahim 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Reza Shojaei 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. Majid Cheshmi 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. Alireza Cheshmi 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. Milad Taremi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hossein Mehraban. 1‑0 against Saipa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Saba are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nima Mirzazad has just signed for Saba, and for once the answer mattered.
Mojtaba Moghtadaei 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 morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
At 18 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vahid Azmoun is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saeid Jahanbakhsh is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.