Marked for Muhammadjon Toirjonov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 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 Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Bruce Hughes 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Remueru Tekiate has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Suva 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Suva can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Suva
Remueru Tekiate 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruce Hughes 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
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
“I watch every Suva game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tailevu Naitasiri runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Merrill Nand has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Suva 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
Steady
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 Suva can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Suva may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jan 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; Suva are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Suva
Remueru Tekiate 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammadjon Toirjonov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad11 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
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Remueru Tekiate has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Suva 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
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Amitesh Krishna commits to Suva for another 3 years.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadjon Toirjonov 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
Squad30 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadjon Toirjonov 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
Joeli Ranitu 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 Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Suva
Akuila Mateisuva 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 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 Suva know it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadjon Toirjonov 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
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadjon Toirjonov 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
Joeli Ranitu 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 Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Muhammadjon Toirjonov and Suva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 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 Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Suva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kavaia Rawaqa 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nishal Sharma, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Remueru Tekiate has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Suva 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Suva, another week without a signature from Nishal Sharma.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Suva would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market14 Sep 2026
The Ramzan Khan story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ramzan Khan signs something — a contract at Suva or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Suva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Kavaia Rawaqa 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
Tempers go at Suva
Uzayr Buksh 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Kavaia Rawaqa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Suva 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 Sep 2026
Suva and Merrill Nand are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Waisake Navunigasau is 38, with 79 appearances behind him, and Suva will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
In brief
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Market
The clock does Merrill Nand’s negotiating for him
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Market
Suva shop where it costs nothing