Marked for Diyor Rahmatullayev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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
0‑2 to Pakhtakor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout10 May 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 dugout10 May 2027
A promise honoured at Qizilqum
Something was said to Diyor Rahmatullayev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Looking ahead10 May 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Andijon in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market10 May 2027
The name of Islom Kenjaboyev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Mar 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 dugout22 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Shahzod Turopov wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Shahzod Turopov has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Qizilqum know, and have known for weeks.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Chances created: 4. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Qizilqum have received the call every well-run club eventually receives — somebody bigger has noticed Sardor Abdullaev. Saying no is easy; keeping him convinced is the actual work.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Pakhtakor is saying, and nobody at Qizilqum is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Qizilqum 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Qizilqum are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Qizilqum asked and Rodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Shahzod Turopov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan move for Easah Suliman is in the works
Qizilqum have made the call to Sumgayit. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout1 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PAOK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Nikola Kumburović 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arda have kept their man, and Qizilqum go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muhammadaziz Ibrohimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Pakhtakor 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Bunyodkor 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Qizilqum did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Asror G'ofurov 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
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diyor Rahmatullayev and Qizilqum agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Qizilqum have made the call to Pakhtakor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to PAOK: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
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
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Qizilqum will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sherzod Majidov
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Shahzod Turopov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Qizilqum know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Qizilqum 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 dugout26 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Qizilqum will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. G'iyosjon Rizaqulov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match17 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Qizilqum did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jaba Jighauri. 2‑1 against Mashal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Shahzod Rahmatullayev 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Shahzod Turopov 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.