Marked for Abbos Ergashboyev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Sep 2027
Full time on the season at Shortan
Position 14 on 18 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Shortan
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abbos Ergashboyev, and the manager let it.
Match25 Sep 2027
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nodir Fayzullaev and Shortan agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Sep 2027
Shortan are in real trouble now
Position 15, 17 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Chastening afternoon for Shortan
A 0‑3 beating by Qizilqum was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad20 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jo'rabek Mannonov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
Doors closed at Shortan
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout20 Sep 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Dostonbek Komilov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Islom Ganiev and Shortan agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout20 Sep 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
Uneasy
The terraces13 Sep 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
The drought breaks for Shortan
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kokand 1912 were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match11 Sep 2027
Three points for Shortan, 1‑0 the final word against Kokand 1912 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nuriddin Xasanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Dostonbek Komilov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Shortan pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Sep 2027
Chastening afternoon for Shortan
A 0‑3 beating by Lokomotiv was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market6 Sep 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 Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Match4 Sep 2027
7 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 16 in, 9 out at Shortan
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shohruh Eshbo'tayev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Doors closed at Shortan
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Aug 2027
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match28 Aug 2027
6 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Shortan
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shortan is running low.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Roman Vegerya
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Sherzodbek Abduraimov 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 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sardor Ismailov commits to Shortan for another 3 years.
Match28 Aug 2027
Shortan share the spoils with AGMK
A 1‑1 draw with AGMK leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
The dugout
When it matters, Nuriddin Xasanov plays
-
The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Diyorbek Haliyev's mistake
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Aug 2027
Shortan sink to position 15
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match21 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Shortan
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Shortan can tell you which week it ends in.
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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Aug 2027
0‑2 to Bunyodkor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout23 Aug 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 Dostonbek Komilov to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Market23 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Supporters organise against the Shortan 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.
Squad16 Aug 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
4 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Shortan
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Shortan can tell you which week it ends in.
Market16 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rustam Tukhtasinov 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jaloliddin Ismailov 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ulugbek Mirzaev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑4 by Sogdiana, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market9 Aug 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 Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shortan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mirjalol Jumayev and Shortan agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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 dugout9 Aug 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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Nasaf, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market2 Aug 2027
Shortan say no — this time
The offer from Andijon for Mirjalol Jumayev 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Shortan
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shortan is running low.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mirjalol Jumayev and Shortan agree another 3 years.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shohruh Eshbo'tayev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
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.
Loan watch2 Aug 2027
Bekzod Suvonov: I did not sign for Shortan to play for other people
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at Shortan and a proper look at me.” He remains Bukhara’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
The dugout2 Aug 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 0‑3 Dostonbek Komilov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Jul 2027
Shortan sink to position 14
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
No sign of nerves from Nurbek Sarsenbaev at 18 — 7.67
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nurbek Sarsenbaev did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Jul 2027
Shortan rescue it on 89 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Metallurg had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match24 Jul 2027
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 dugout26 Jul 2027
Nobody at Shortan 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces19 Jul 2027
The mood at Shortan 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Jul 2027
Mashal made Shortan work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Looking ahead19 Jul 2027
A six-pointer for Shortan
Metallurg next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
97% of the income goes out in wages at Shortan
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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.78 on the card, and the Shortan support went home talking about one name.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Supporters organise against the Shortan 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
At last: Shortan win one
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Bukhara. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Jasurbek Hakimov for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Shortan will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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 terraces21 Jun 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match19 Jun 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was O'ktamjon Abdumalikov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Shortan.
Squad21 Jun 2027
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Nuriddin Xasanov 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.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Shortan.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 May 2027
Shortan sink to position 16
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match29 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Shortan
0‑3 against Kokand 1912, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match29 May 2027
8 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Match29 May 2027
8 matches without a goal for Shortan
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Bekjon Rahmatov 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
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.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirjalol Jumayev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Shortan
0‑4 against Bunyodkor, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match8 May 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match8 May 2027
Shortan cannot find the net
5 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Abbos Ergashboyev 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.
Market10 May 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nodir Fayzullaev 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 May 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Odil Akhmedov 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 dugout10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Bekjon Rahmatov 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.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Nobody left the Shortan dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Boardroom
Wages swallow 87% of the Shortan income
-
The dugout
When it matters, Shohruh Eshbo'tayev plays
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Supporters organise against the Shortan 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Shortan
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Shortan can tell you which week it ends in.
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 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 Dostonbek Komilov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Apr 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
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
A bad afternoon for Shortan against Nasaf
0‑1 to Nasaf, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bekjon Rahmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout19 Apr 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Looking ahead19 Apr 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sogdiana in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Bekjon Rahmatov
“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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“I watch every Shortan game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metallurg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market12 Apr 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mirjalol Jumayev has his answer from Shortan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout12 Apr 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 Shohruh Eshbo'tayev is on it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Dostonbek Komilov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shortan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Apr 2027
It had gone 15 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Match31 Mar 2027
Shortan out of the cup
Bunyodkor ended it 3‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match3 Apr 2027
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Abbos Ergashboyev scored in the 85th minute, Mashal had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Shortan took the lot.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
A brace, and Abbos Ergashboyev takes the afternoon — 8.66
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abbos Ergashboyev provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
G'anisher Qodirov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The Shortan board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match31 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Shortan and Bunyodkor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
14 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 terraces29 Mar 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Market29 Mar 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.
Squad29 Mar 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
6 matches without a goal for Shortan
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match27 Mar 2027
Pakhtakor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Bekjon Rahmatov 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 dugout29 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
11 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Jasurbek Hakimov out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shortan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Iskandar Shayqulov commits to Shortan for another 2 years.
Match6 Mar 2027
Shortan cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Abbos Ergashboyev 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Bukhara left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bekjon Rahmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Shortan, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Market1 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.
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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Window shuts: 4 in, 2 out at Shortan
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islom Kenjaboyev, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Muhammadziyo Adhamjonov commits to Shortan for another 3 years.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Shortan will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shortan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
166% of the income goes out in wages at Shortan
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Nov 2026
Shortan are in real trouble now
Position 15, 2 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Islom Kenjaboyev: 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.” Shortan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market23 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shortan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shortan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ulugbek Komilov 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 dugout9 Nov 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mirjalol Jumayev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adhamjon Musulmonov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shortan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 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
Uneasy
Market5 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 Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 241% of everything Shortan 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Shortan than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Shortan
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.
Match28 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Shortan
Position 15 and 2 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shortan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Shortan against Andijon
0‑1 to Andijon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Dostonbek Komilov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
Ordabasy come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Shortan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from G'anisher Qodirov at 19 — 7.70
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. G'anisher Qodirov did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Shortan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Shortan 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Late, late show earns Shortan a point
Minute 96, against Lokomotiv, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abbos Ergashboyev 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
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market24 Aug 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 Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mashal have kept their man, and Shortan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Adhamjon Musulmonov again, and this time the name on the line is Bunyodkor. Shortan are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Dostonbek Komilov left the room before anybody could ask which.