Marked for Jasur Shomurodov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Feb 2029
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Shortan close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AGMK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Muhammadsafo Fozilov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Shortan is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Jasur Shomurodov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad5 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Shortan asked and Nasaf said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tadija Crnojević 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Jan 2029
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shortan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces29 Jan 2029
The mood at Shortan 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shortan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Anvarjon Jo'rayev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Shortan is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Abbos Ergashboyev 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Renar Velav 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.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Shortan 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tadija Crnojević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Jan 2029
The mood at Obod 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.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Obod
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Obod is running low.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Andijon have accepted the money. What Obod do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad22 Jan 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Obod 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.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Ozodbek Marufov back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Obod has worked with Ozodbek Marufov before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Ilhomjon Kenjayev 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.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Shortan 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
Crisis
Squad22 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kaveh Dejagah
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rah Ahan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Rah Ahan
Saeid Pouraliganji 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Mehdi Azmoun
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Rah Ahan will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
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.
Match20 Jan 2029
0‑1 to Padideh, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Ali Karimi 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 dugout22 Jan 2029
Ali Nemati gets it from the manager
“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 dugout22 Jan 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ramin Rezaeian after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Jan 2029
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Shortan have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Shortan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Shortan have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasaf have kept their man, and Shortan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tadija Crnojević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Shortan 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.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Shortan have made the call to Navbahor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Dec 2028
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shortan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Dec 2028
Nodir Ganiev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tadija Crnojević 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.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
Wages swallow 115% of the Shortan 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Too much change too quickly at Shortan
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Pressure builds in the Shortan boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad18 Dec 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Match18 Dec 2028
Shortan sink to position 15
19 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 Dec 2028
“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 Shortan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Dec 2028
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Nodir Ganiev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Shortan is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Iskandar Soliyev has just signed for Shortan, and for once the answer mattered.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shortan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Sep 2028
“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 Shortan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Sep 2028
7 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.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shortan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Sep 2028
22 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets18 Sep 2028
Shortan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Andijon, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Muhammadsafo Fozilov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Shortan is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Sep 2028
Lokomotiv left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2028
0‑3 to Neftchi, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market21 Aug 2028
Obod come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Shortan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match19 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Shortan
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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
50 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
The deal with Neftchi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Andijon keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Muhammadsafo Fozilov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Shortan is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jasur Shomurodov is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Sep 2027
Shortan are in real trouble now
Position 15, 20 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.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
Shortan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Pakhtakor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Izzatillo Po'latov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A move Jasur Shomurodov would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jasur Shomurodov is living that version at Shortan, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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 dugout20 Sep 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Shortan were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 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.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Damjan Knežević has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Obod is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The offer went to Pakhtakor this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Nodir Fayzullaev 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 ratings23 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Obod
Ozodbek Marufov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Andijon: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Navbahor 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.
Match21 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Jun 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.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Obod have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Jun 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; Obod are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Mario Marković 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 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Obod
Jaloliddin Hasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Jun 2027
Qizilqum left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mark Kryukov commits to Obod for another 3 years.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets7 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
6 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.
Market10 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.
Match8 May 2027
Obod 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.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Obod
Odil Ismailov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sardor Abdullaev, and the manager let it.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Obod
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nodir Fayzullaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout10 May 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
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Obod
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Marković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Obod
Odil Ismailov 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A mark of 7.78, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jaloliddin Shomurodov commits to Obod for another 3 years.
Loan watch26 Apr 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 Obod, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jasur Shomurodov, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match24 Apr 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sogdiana defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.