From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A debut Damián London will not forget — 7.24
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.24 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” David Shavlokhov commits to Taraz for another 4 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Graduation day at Taraz
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Match6 Mar 2027
Zhetysu left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kairat Islamkhan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
Transfer targets8 Mar 2027
The clock did what Shakhter would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
$16.0K settles it between the clubs for Miras Dilmūrat
Shakhter have accepted the money. What Taraz do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 6 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 targets1 Mar 2027
No thanks: Mihhail Orlov rejects the move
Taraz had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Nomme Kalju, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
22 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Maqsat Ämirkhanov 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 targets1 Mar 2027
A loan move for Danil Podymskii is in the works
Taraz have made the call to Zhetysu. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad1 Mar 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. Beknaz Almazbekov has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 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.
Market22 Feb 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.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Taraz have done the hard part with Nomme Kalju, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad22 Feb 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 targets22 Feb 2027
$14.0K on the table at Shakhter. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Feb 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 dugout22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marat Akhmetov and Taraz agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 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 terraces15 Feb 2027
Supporters turn on the $330.0K sale of Zhandos Ömirzaqov
He is going to Shakhter, the club has $330.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market15 Feb 2027
Taraz say no — this time
The offer from Irtysh for Miras Zhaqsymbetov 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.
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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Shakhter pay $330.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Baktiyor Orazov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad15 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Nomme Kalju: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
Okzhetpes 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
Taraz sell a favourite for $340.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Älisher Sulei was one of the reasons people came, and $340.0K does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Taraz had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Alashkert, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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
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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Älisher Sulei has left for Irtysh in a $340.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Mikhail Barinov 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. Mikhail Barinov has, at Taraz, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
Taraz say no — this time
The offer from Aktobe for Älisher Sulei 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.
Market1 Feb 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 Feb 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 Feb 2027
Taraz asked and Tobol 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 name of Nūraidar Äskerbek has come up in conversations Taraz were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad1 Feb 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Alashkert 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Taraz have let the market know Älisher Süleimen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Open for business: Taraz enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
14 days out for Abzal Nuserbayev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Taraz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Abzal Nuserbayev out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Taraz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Abzal Nuserbayev out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Taraz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Abzal Nuserbayev out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Taraz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
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
Älisher Sulei asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 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.
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
Erasyl Keulimzhai 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. 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Merei Zhambyl has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 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.
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
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
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.
The dugout30 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
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
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fabián Peñaloza commits to Taraz for another 3 years.
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Taraz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market23 Nov 2026
No fee and no drama: Fabián Peñaloza has signed at Taraz, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nūrlan Däirov damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Älisher Sulei, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nūrlan Däirov
28 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.
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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
35 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.
Squad2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Taraz
Merei Zhambyl and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nūrlan Däirov damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
“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 Oct 2026
28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
50 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.
Squad19 Oct 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nūrlan Däirov
58 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.
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.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abzal Nuserbayev 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timur Murtazaev 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.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 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
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nūrlan Däirov
65 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
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
95% of the income goes out in wages at Taraz
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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. Ibrohim G'anixonov has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nūrlan Däirov damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Älisher Sulei, and the manager let it.
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.
The dugout28 Sep 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
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nūrlan Däirov
81 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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.
Market21 Sep 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.
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. 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
Taraz opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Zhandos Ömirzaqov stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nūrlan Däirov
90 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 19 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
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Melgar have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Serikzhan Nurgaliev 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
One of our own: Abzal Orazov joins the Taraz first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abzal Orazov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
Squad14 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Taraz are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout14 Sep 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
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nūrlan Däirov damages knee ligaments — 97 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Stanislav Samoilov has left for Shakhter in a $200.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Taraz
Eskendir Qybyrai 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.
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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zhandos Ömirzaqov, and the manager let it.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
The knee: Nūrlan Däirov out for 104 days
104 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Taraz say no — this time
The offer from Ermis for Sanzhar Kemelbek 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Taraz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The deal with Mashal 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 targets31 Aug 2026
No thanks: Kevin Pereira rejects the move
Taraz had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Van, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sogdiana have kept their man, and Taraz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan move for Rafael Livia is in the works
Taraz have made the call to Melgar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nūrlan Däirov
111 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 Aug 2026
Taraz out of the cup
Astana ended it 0‑2. 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The deal with Van 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 targets24 Aug 2026
Taraz had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cerro Porteno, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Sanzhar Kemelbek has come up in conversations Taraz were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Taraz
A 3‑0 win over Atyrau, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.04, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Nacional keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.80 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Taraz, another week without a signature from David Shavlokhov.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets10 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Alashkert is saying, and nobody at Taraz is enjoying the guessing.
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
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ordabasy Nurgaliev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Baurzhan Shomko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yeldos Logvinenko 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
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Erbol Murtazaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Taraz know which stage they are at.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
There were 7 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.
Market3 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.
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.
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 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“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.
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.
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Rinat Logvinenko to a room that had heard them before.