Marked for Dilshod Abdullayev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jun 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dániel Farkas
149 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nasaf lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jun 2029
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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Wages swallow 101% of the Nasaf income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad4 Jun 2029
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Davron Anvarov has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matija Krivokapić, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Nasaf told Dániel Farkas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
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 Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov is on it.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Apr 2029
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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alibek Davronov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match28 Apr 2029
A 1‑0 win over Metallurg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“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 dugout30 Apr 2029
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.” Doniyor Suyunov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
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.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alibek Davronov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead30 Apr 2029
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Pakhtakor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Luka Đorđević
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nasaf lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nasaf people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market26 Feb 2029
Nasaf say no — this time
The offer from Shakhter for Sahob Rashidov 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
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 Feb 2029
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 dugout26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matija Krivokapić, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
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 Abduvohid Ne'matov is on it.
Market26 Feb 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nasaf know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Nasaf will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Feb 2029
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nasaf lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nasaf may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Feb 2029
Nasaf say no — this time
The offer from BATE for Luka Đorđević 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Nasaf
Abduvohid Ne'matov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Feb 2029
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.
Market19 Feb 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Nasaf have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Nasaf are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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 Feb 2029
“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
Squad25 Dec 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Luka Đorđević
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nasaf lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad25 Dec 2028
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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Nasaf
Dejan Meleg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Dec 2028
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Anvarjon Jo'rayev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
Bobur Abdiholiqov has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davronbek Usmonov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Nov 2028
Davron Anvarov damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alibek Davronov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Dejan Meleg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Nov 2028
5 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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
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 Abduvohid Ne'matov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2028
Davron Anvarov damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market16 Oct 2028
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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
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 dugout16 Oct 2028
“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 dugout16 Oct 2028
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 Bobur Abdiholiqov is on it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alibek Davronov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Nasaf will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market16 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sharof Muhiddinov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes Shohruh Eshbo'tayev a promise
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Boardroom
The Nasaf academy earns its keep
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Boardroom
The Nasaf board put their names to it
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match29 Jul 2028
Nobody wins at Nasaf
15 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nasaf may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match29 Jul 2028
Nasaf make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Nasaf have 6 straight wins of it.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.36, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match29 Jul 2028
Nasaf get the job done against Shortan
A 3‑1 win over Shortan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Nasaf
Dejan Meleg 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Farkas 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.
Loan watch31 Jul 2028
“I did not go to Jagiellonia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nasaf and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
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.” Doniyor Suyunov, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Jun 2028
No end in sight to Nasaf's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Nasaf has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match10 Jun 2028
The run at home goes on for Nasaf
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market12 Jun 2028
Nasaf get their man
The chase for Dilshod Abdullayev ended with $130.0K changing hands and Pakhtakor out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Nasaf offered $21.0K; Navbahor said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Dejan Meleg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarbek Eshmurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Jun 2028
Nasaf rescue it on 95 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 95. Lokomotiv had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Jun 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Pakhtakor scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Sanjar Quvvatov out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pakhtakor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Jun 2028
30 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Partizan, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match10 Jun 2028
Pakhtakor make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Pakhtakor have 3 straight wins of it.
Market12 Jun 2028
The deal that would have taken Sanjar Quvvatov to Kokand 1912 has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Pakhtakor with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Davor Nedeljković 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.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Jun 2028
The wait goes on for Nasaf
6 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.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Sogdiana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Nasaf asked and AGMK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
$130.0K on the table at Pakhtakor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Nasaf
Muhammadrasul Abdumajidov 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 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Murodbek Rahmatov and Nasaf agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Match3 Jun 2028
Nasaf rescue it on 95 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 95. AGMK had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jun 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 Jun 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation Pakhtakor did not have in the autumn.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Pakhtakor have done the hard part with Slavia Prague, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shahzod Azmiddinov and Pakhtakor agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Pakhtakor
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bashar Resan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Pakhtakor
Aziz Turg'unboyev 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
The name of Dilshod Abdullayev has come up in conversations Pakhtakor were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match3 Jun 2028
Three points for Pakhtakor, 1‑0 the final word against Neftchi in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Feb 2028
151 days out for Sanjar Quvvatov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pakhtakor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Akmal Mozgovoy 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Pakhtakor
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bashar Resan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The medical room confirms 27 days on the sidelines for Dilshod Abdullayev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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 dugout21 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jamshid Boltaboev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jan 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pakhtakor have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Akmal Mozgovoy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Bashar Resan 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 58 days on the sidelines for Dilshod Abdullayev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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 dugout24 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shahzod Azmiddinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.