Marked for Samandar Muratboyev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
Muhriddin Zoirov 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. Muhriddin Zoirov has, at Nasaf, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market6 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 13 in, 22 out at Nasaf
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 22 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Akromjon Komilov is a Nasaf player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market6 Sep 2027
The shirt still fits. Muhriddin Zoirov is back at Nasaf, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev and Nasaf agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adenis Shala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The clock did what Neftchi would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mirzohid G'ofurov
160 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metallurg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market30 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Obod waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match28 Aug 2027
7 matches without a win for Metallurg
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Metallurg are no longer polite ones.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metallurg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Metallurg have done the hard part with Bunyodkor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Metallurg
Shahriyor Jabborov 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Metallurg 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Aug 2027
Nasaf make home a hard place to visit
21 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Market23 Aug 2027
Qizilqum come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Nasaf did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
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 Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sharof Muhiddinov. 1‑0 against Metallurg, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market23 Aug 2027
Lokomotiv are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Nasaf will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.25 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Aug 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kingsley Sokari, and the manager let it.
Loan watch23 Aug 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 Nasaf, and 4 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Jul 2027
Nobody wins at Nasaf
19 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad26 Jul 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.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Yusuf Otubanjo, 34, rolls back the years — 8.29
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.29 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
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 Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Adenis Shala 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.
Match24 Jul 2027
A 2‑1 win over Navbahor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market26 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Asilbek No'monov again, and this time the name on the line is Obod. Nasaf are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.46, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market28 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samandar Toirov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match26 Jun 2027
2‑3 to Kokand 1912, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market28 Jun 2027
The name of Davronbek Usmonov has come up in conversations Nasaf were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 May 2027
Neftchi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 May 2027
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Loan watch31 May 2027
“I did not go to Metallurg to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nasaf and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
The dugout31 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Dostonbek Tukhtasinov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrohim G'anixonov, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Nasaf lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
Looking ahead31 May 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Akromjon Komilov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Nasaf needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout31 May 2027
Rustambek Fomin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Metallurg
Position 14 and 9 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.
Squad24 May 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.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Sadullayev 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.
Squad24 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Husan G'anijonov commits to Metallurg for another 3 years.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Nodir Suyunov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout24 May 2027
Sanjar Shoahmedov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout24 May 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings3 May 2027
A brace, and Bobur Abdiholiqov takes the afternoon — 8.77
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bobur Abdiholiqov provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Age has not caught Stefan Čolović yet — 7.90
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nasaf may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match1 May 2027
Nobody wins at Nasaf
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces3 May 2027
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.
Match1 May 2027
Nasaf get the job done against Mashal
A 2‑0 win over Mashal, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov, and the manager let it.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adenis Shala 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
Match3 Apr 2027
17 unbeaten for Nasaf
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 17 matches without defeat is a foundation Nasaf did not have in the autumn.
Match31 Mar 2027
Nasaf through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Qizilqum, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match3 Apr 2027
The run at home goes on for Nasaf
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Nasaf know it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I watch every Nasaf 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.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
At 21 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Adenis Shala 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
Uneasy
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Metallurg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Shahriyor Jabborov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Sanjar Shoahmedov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Zafarbek Rahimjonov 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
Anvar Murodov 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
Uneasy
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Metallurg 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Metallurg's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Metallurg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad22 Mar 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 Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Samandar Muratboyev 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.
The dugout22 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asiljon Begimqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nobody at Metallurg will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Mar 2027
13 unbeaten for Nasaf
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Nasaf did not have in the autumn.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Ilja Rozhkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yusuf Otubanjo and Nasaf agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Nasaf know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
7 new faces, and Nasaf 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.
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 Nasaf, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Match6 Mar 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Rustambek Fomin's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Boardroom
No investment in the facilities at Nasaf
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Player ratings
An afternoon Rustambek Fomin will want back
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Metallurg 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.
Match25 Jan 2027
Metallurg are in real trouble now
Position 15, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Nasaf, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad25 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 Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kokand 1912 have kept their man, and Metallurg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zafarbek Rahimjonov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Mashal 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anvar Murodov and Metallurg agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Luka Petrović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Metallurg will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Metallurg waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Nasaf is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match25 Jan 2027
Nasaf up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market25 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov again, and this time the name on the line is Qizilqum. Nasaf are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Nasaf asked and Rubin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov 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 targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Leandro Lucero is in the works
Nasaf have made the call to Temperley. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Muslimbek Habibullayev and Nasaf agree another 4 years.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vukašin Đorđević, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
Padideh come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Nasaf did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market18 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 Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Metalist have kept their man, and Nasaf go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Samandar Muratboyev has come up in conversations Nasaf were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adenis Shala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market18 Jan 2027
He is 19, and nobody at Nasaf signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Asilbek Qayumov commits to Nasaf for another 3 years.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market11 Jan 2027
Nasaf get their man
The chase for Asilbek Qayumov ended with $240.0K changing hands and Bukhara out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad11 Jan 2027
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Nasaf spend $240.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $240.0K for Asilbek Qayumov, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Akhmat Grozny have kept their man, and Nasaf go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adenis Shala 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Nasaf are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov 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 Dec 2026
Adenis Shala 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samandar Muratboyev commits to Nasaf for another 4 years.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Nobody at Nasaf 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
The name of Bobur Abdiholiqov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Nov 2026
Nasaf refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Nasaf know it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov 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
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adenis Shala 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 126% of everything Nasaf 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Davronbek Usmonov is on it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Market23 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bahodir Halilov signs something — a contract at Nasaf or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nasaf they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 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 Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eldor Masharipov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adenis Shala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A quiet fortnight at Nasaf
With 4 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sherzod G'ulomjonov is on it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Oybek Rustamov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nasaf, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market9 Nov 2026
The name of Bobur Abdiholiqov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Bobur Abdiholiqov joins up with his country. Nasaf lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Nov 2026
Nasaf are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Asilbek No'monov: 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.” Nasaf have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 126% of everything Nasaf 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
$900.4K on the table at Nasaf
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Alizod To'xtayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Alibek Davronov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Alibek Davronov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shahzodbek G'ofurbekov, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout2 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Nasaf
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Samandar Muratboyev has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Adenis Shala 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
After 4 games, Nasaf finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Lokomotiv; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Murodbek Rahmatov, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Bahodir Halilov dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nasaf they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Samandar Toirov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bahodir Halilov and Nasaf agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Nasaf know it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sherzod G'ulomjonov, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 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 Sherzod G'ulomjonov is on it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Lokomotiv next, and one man in the Nasaf dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Bobur Abdiholiqov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 unbeaten for Nasaf
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Nasaf did not have in the autumn.
Market14 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Astana moved on, Samandar Muratboyev reports back to Nasaf, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Bobur Abdiholiqov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nasaf.
Match12 Sep 2026
Sogdiana blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Sogdiana tried to reorganise, Nasaf did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Adenis Shala 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.00 — 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Dostonbek Tukhtasinov kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Nasaf
Neftchi top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Nasaf have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bunyodkor is saying, and nobody at Nasaf is enjoying the guessing.
Market7 Sep 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 14 in, 1 out at Nasaf
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo 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
Kingsley Sokari 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Nasaf 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bahodir Halilov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bahodir Halilov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 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.