Marked for Jasur Akhmedov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 May 2027
The drought breaks for Obod
16 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.
Market31 May 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 The request is on a desk at Obod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Obod
Filip Sredojević 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.
The terraces31 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mahmud Jo'raboyev 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.
Match29 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mahmud Jo'raboyev. 1‑0 against Kokand 1912, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad31 May 2027
Jaloliddin Suyunov 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 ratings31 May 2027
Marked 7.86 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Obod had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout31 May 2027
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.” Islom Komilov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Obod
5 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Obod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nemanja Ilić and Obod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Obod
Filip Sredojević 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Obod
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaloliddin Suyunov 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Obod
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match6 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 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 Obod know it.
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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eldor Hasanov, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodir Tukhtasinov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jasur Akhmedov commits to Obod for another 3 years.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Husan G'anijonov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Obod needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Obod
Aziz Masharipov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodir Tukhtasinov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Rustam Abdullaev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Eldor Hasanov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 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.