From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match29 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Taraz
Position 12 and 6 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
A promise honoured at Taraz
Something was said to Zhandos Ömirzaqov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Nov 2027
The mood at Taraz has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Taraz boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Nūraidar Äskerbek has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Dias Lesbek knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dias Lesbek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Älisher Sulei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Yenin, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Merei Zhambyl gets picked when it counts
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 Merei Zhambyl is on it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Taraz would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Taraz says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Timur Shomko has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Taraz can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Nov 2027
Olzhas Ädil hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxim Martusevich and Taraz agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Ivan Yenin 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Ivan Yenin loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Ivan Yenin's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Taraz says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Nov 2027
Taraz are in real trouble now
Position 12, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market1 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Ivan Yenin 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager's exit leaves Ivan Yenin exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ivan Yenin is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Ersūltan Töreqūl has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Oct 2027
The mood at Taraz has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Taraz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Taraz is running low.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Ivan Yenin in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Tair Nurseitov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Taraz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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 Nūraidar Äskerbek is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Ivan Yenin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Merei Zhambyl gets picked when it counts
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 Merei Zhambyl is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Olzhas Ädil knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Olzhas Ädil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Taraz that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Oct 2027
Every point is an argument now for Taraz
Position 12 and 6 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Timur Shomko has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Tair Nurseitov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Taraz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bauyrzhan Baitana and Taraz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Bauyrzhan Baitana was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Tair Nurseitov has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces27 Sep 2027
The mood at Taraz has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
Pressure builds in the Taraz boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad27 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets27 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Porto have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Ädilet Ömei gets it from the manager
“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 dugout27 Sep 2027
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 Nūraidar Äskerbek is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Ivan Yenin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Renate have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Kildzhiev, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Eskendir Qybyrai 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
Merei Zhambyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Azamat Erden asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Taraz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 9 in, 7 out at Taraz
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Ivan Yenin 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.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ordabasy have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
A promise honoured at Taraz
Something was said to Tamerlan Dzugulov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ivan Yenin is doing the arithmetic
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Taraz says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Market13 Sep 2027
Taraz spent the window trying to move Tair Nurseitov on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Sep 2027
Taraz sink to position 12
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The deal with Ordabasy 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.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Ivan Yenin 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Taraz have made the call to Porto. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Merei Zhambyl slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Merei Zhambyl is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Aug 2027
The mood at Taraz has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Taraz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Taraz is running low.
Market30 Aug 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Tobol, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AlbinoLeffe keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ivan Yenin in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Taraz asked and Atyrau said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Eskendir Qybyrai 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ivan Yenin has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Taraz know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Taraz asked and Cosenza 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 Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to AlbinoLeffe: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammad Ubaydullayev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Älisher Sulei 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Renate have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Cosenza: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Crvena Zvezda have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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 Erkebūlan Toibekov is on it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Maqsat Ämirkhanov's mistake
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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Dias Lesbek
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Aug 2027
Shakhter arrived with $220.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Match9 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Taraz
Position 12 and 6 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
Sanzhar Kemelbek has gone, the accounts have $220.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Bauyrzhan Baitana, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Salernitana is saying, and nobody at Taraz is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tobol have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nikita Kildzhiev commits to Taraz for another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Älisher Sulei 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jul 2027
24 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 24, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
Anger at Taraz spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Timur Shomko has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Taraz can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Taraz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Taraz is running low.
Match2 Aug 2027
The season ends: position 12 for Taraz
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 6 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Taraz's wait for a win
23 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Taraz has to find a result from somewhere.
Market26 Jul 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces26 Jul 2027
Älisher Süleimen has gone, the accounts have $120.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: RC Lens keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Jul 2027
Shakhter paid $120.0K and Taraz took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cosenza have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Madiiar Nūraly, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
22 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Irtysh have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Erasyl Keulimzhai 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.
Looking ahead19 Jul 2027
A six-pointer for Taraz
Atyrau next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Jul 2027
21 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Zhandos Ömirzaqov damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Match12 Jul 2027
Taraz are in real trouble now
Position 12, 4 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Jul 2027
Taraz cannot find the net
7 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market12 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Taraz have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Taraz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
20 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.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the Taraz board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad5 Jul 2027
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Taraz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Taraz and Kairat have settled on $1.3M. 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Taraz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Taraz is running low.
Squad5 Jul 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Taraz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match3 Jul 2027
Taraz cannot find the net
6 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jun 2027
19 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zhandos Ömirzaqov
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Taraz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Zhaqyp Qozhamberdi has gone, the accounts have $37.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Match26 Jun 2027
The goals have deserted Taraz
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Taraz can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market28 Jun 2027
Atyrau paid $37.0K and Taraz took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match26 Jun 2027
A bad afternoon for Taraz against Okzhetpes
0‑1 to Okzhetpes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
In brief
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Squad
Appearance number 200 for Nūrlan Däirov
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Squad
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Dias Lesbek gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
18 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zhandos Ömirzaqov
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Taraz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Jun 2027
Taraz taken apart
0‑3 to Irtysh, 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market21 Jun 2027
Olzhas Ädil hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Tobol; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Zhaqyp Qozhamberdi has come up in conversations Taraz were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match19 Jun 2027
4 matches without a goal for Taraz
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Jun 2027
17 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Jun 2027
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Taraz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match14 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Taraz
Position 12 and 4 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Chastening afternoon for Taraz
A 0‑4 beating by Aktobe was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
3 matches without a goal for Taraz
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Maxim Martusevich 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Zhandos Ömirzaqov damages knee ligaments — 53 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Anger at Taraz spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Jun 2027
Taraz come up short against Astana
Astana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Erasyl Keulimzhai 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 dugout7 Jun 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Timur Shomko to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 May 2027
15 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zhandos Ömirzaqov
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Taraz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 May 2027
Taraz taken apart
0‑5 to Kairat, 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.
Market31 May 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Madiiar Nūraly
“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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Inquest at Taraz
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad31 May 2027
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Älisher Süleimen's mistake
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The dugout
Maxim Martusevich asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 May 2027
No end in sight to Taraz's wait for a win
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Taraz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 May 2027
68 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Taraz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Dias Lesbek
“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.
Match22 May 2027
Taraz caught on 96 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Zhetysu scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Marked 7.84. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match22 May 2027
Honours even between Taraz and Zhetysu
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
13 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 May 2027
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Taraz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match15 May 2027
Taraz taken apart
1‑5 to Tobol, 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.
Match17 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Taraz
Position 12 and 3 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.
Squad17 May 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market17 May 2027
Olzhas Ädil hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Taraz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Match15 May 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Taraz and Tobol in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Taraz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
12 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.
Market10 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Match8 May 2027
A point taken on 93 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.
The dugout10 May 2027
A promise honoured at Taraz
Something was said to Älisher Süleimen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Match8 May 2027
Taraz and Atyrau take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout10 May 2027
Half-satisfied: Timur Shomko on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
Zhandos Ömirzaqov damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
Match1 May 2027
11 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Match1 May 2027
Taraz are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sanzhar Kemelbek, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 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 Timur Shomko to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zhandos Ömirzaqov
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Taraz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
10 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Taraz are shipping goals every week
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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Ordabasy left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erasyl Keulimzhai 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Dias Lesbek
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Zhandos Ömirzaqov damages knee ligaments — 103 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Taraz's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Taraz has to find a result from somewhere.
Match19 Apr 2027
Taraz sink to position 12
2 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match17 Apr 2027
A 2-goal lead gone for Taraz
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Shakhter kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Taraz will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Market19 Apr 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
7.85, 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
Zhandos Ömirzaqov damages knee ligaments — 110 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
Match7 Apr 2027
Taraz out of the cup
Atyrau ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Taraz
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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Olzhas Ädil hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Taraz
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Taraz can tell you which week it ends in.
Match10 Apr 2027
Okzhetpes left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Apr 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zhandos Ömirzaqov
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Taraz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match3 Apr 2027
6 matches without a win for Taraz
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Taraz are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxim Martusevich and Taraz agree another 2 years.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match3 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
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 Timur Shomko left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market5 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ülan Konysbaev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Taraz.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Taraz's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Taraz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Älisher Sulei scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Aktobe, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad29 Mar 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dias Lesbek, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Irtysh next, and one man in the Taraz dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Taraz's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Taraz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eskendir Qybyrai 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Timur Shomko chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Merei Zhambyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Astana will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead22 Mar 2027
Aktobe next, and one man in the Taraz dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Dias Lesbek knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Taraz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nobody at Taraz 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Madiiar Nūraly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 54 days on the sidelines for Azizzhon Berdiev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Timur Shomko after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Älisher Süleimen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
Astana next, and one man in the Taraz dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Taraz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bauyrzhan Baitana and Taraz agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Mar 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Renate have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match6 Mar 2027
Zhetysu left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
No investment in the facilities at Taraz
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Taraz can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Taraz close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 1 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ordabasy have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eskendir Qybyrai is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mikhail Kharlan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Nūraidar Äskerbek has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecco have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
A loan move for Nicola Anelli is in the works
Taraz have made the call to Renate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
A loan move for Daniel Agara is in the works
Taraz have made the call to Katsina United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Merei Zhambyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Taraz have made the call to Sogdiana. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
Taraz say no — this time
The offer from Okzhetpes for Ersūltan Töreqūl 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AS Trencin is saying, and nobody at Taraz is enjoying the guessing.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Taraz 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikhail Kharlan and Taraz agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Andijon have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market8 Feb 2027
Taraz have made Älisher Süleimen available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
“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 Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Ordabasy, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Dmitry Zheltukhin arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dmitry Zheltukhin has, at Taraz, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Taraz asked and Atyrau said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Miras Zhaqsymbetov again, and this time the name on the line is Zhetysu. Taraz are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitry Zheltukhin and Taraz agree another 3 years.
Market1 Feb 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Taraz signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Martusevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Merei Zhambyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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 Zhaqyp Qozhamberdi has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eskendir Qybyrai 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abzal Postnikov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Zhandos Ömirzaqov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zhandos Ömirzaqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Älisher Süleimen, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Muhammad Ubaydullayev and Taraz agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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 Nūraidar Äskerbek is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Zhandos Ömirzaqov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Merei Zhambyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eskendir Qybyrai 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Islambek Akhmetov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Erasyl Keulimzhai 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
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 Nūraidar Äskerbek is on it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 Zhaqyp Qozhamberdi has written the date down.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Taraz
Erasyl Keulimzhai 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Merei Zhambyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eskendir Qybyrai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Taraz 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zhandos Ömirzaqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Bauyrzhan Baitana
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Taraz will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Maxim Martusevich 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eskendir Qybyrai 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 90% of everything Taraz earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Andrei Pasechenko 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Taraz than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Zhandos Ömirzaqov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Taraz
10 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Taraz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Miras Zhaqsymbetov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 16 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Taraz 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cittadella keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kokand 1912 have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Maxim Postnikov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Eskendir Qybyrai 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zhaqyp Qozhamberdi, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Nūraidar Äskerbek has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Taraz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
$200.0K from Shakhter for Stanislav Samoilov. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Taraz sell a favourite for $200.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Stanislav Samoilov was one of the reasons people came, and $200.0K does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The deal with Aktobe 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Trapani is saying, and nobody at Taraz is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Taraz
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zhandos Ömirzaqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Noah keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Taraz asked and Astana 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 Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Martusevich 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Maqsat Ämirkhanov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Taraz.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Taraz know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Taraz
9 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Trapani: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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 Erkebūlan Toibekov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
Taraz out of the cup
Astana ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Aug 2026
Shakhter come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Taraz did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Andijon is saying, and nobody at Taraz is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kairat have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Andrei Pasechenko 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maqsat Ämirkhanov, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2026
Taraz march on in the cup
Atyrau are out and Taraz go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Nūraidar Äskerbek, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.15
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Moscow have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The deal with Picerno 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Andrei Pasechenko 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Nūraidar Äskerbek 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Tair Nurseitov again, and this time the name on the line is Shakhter. Taraz are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Taraz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Talgat Postnikov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Talgat Dosmagambetov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gafurzhan Shomko 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Taraz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eskendir Qybyrai 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Taraz have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bauyrzhan Baitana and Taraz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Taraz
Madiiar Nūraly 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Andijon have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Taraz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrei Pasechenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Aug 2026
Tobol take the points off Taraz
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Nūrlan Däirov's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Taraz 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 dugout3 Aug 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Timur Shomko to a room that had heard them before.