Akmal Tukhtasinov

Left Wingback - Obod
8 Jul 2028
Saturday
Process

Marked for Akmal Tukhtasinov

101 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Farruh Agayev damages knee ligaments — 109 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.

Squad

Ebuka Akobundu breaks a bone — 18 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Albert Nurullayev 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.

Squad

Akmal Tukhtasinov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Akmal Tukhtasinov and Obod agree another 2 years.

Match

A bad afternoon for Obod against Shortan

0‑1 to Shortan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Loan watch

Otabek Suyunov has seen enough of Nasaf

“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 2 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.

Boardroom

Intake day at the Obod academy

4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.

Player ratings

Rian Islomov runs at them all day

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.

Player ratings

Akmal Tukhtasinov never got going

5.37 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

In brief

Back issues
97 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ebuka Akobundu: 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.” Obod have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Jasur Yaxshiboyev 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.

Match

Islom Tukhtasinov sends Obod past Andijon

It finished 1‑0, and it was Islom Tukhtasinov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Obod.

Squad

No hiding place for Abdulla Al-Shamsi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulla Al-Shamsi, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

One of those days for Islom Tukhtasinov

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Odil Ahmedov is the division's best young player this month

At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Obod will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jasur Yaxshiboyev

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Loan watch

Otabek Suyunov counts the days

“I watch every Obod game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Nasaf runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Boardroom

$15.9K a year onto the Obod books

A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.

In brief

95 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ebuka Akobundu 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 Obod can pretend not to have heard.

Match

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Jasur Yaxshiboyev 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Albert Nurullayev

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Albert Nurullayev, and the manager let it.

Match

Odil Ahmedov answers Kokand 1912 immediately

Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Odil Ahmedov had Obod level again within 4 minutes, and Kokand 1912 never got to play with a lead at all.

Squad

Farruh Agayev stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Farruh Agayev and Obod agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Honours even between Obod and Kokand 1912

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Squad

Timur Ganiev 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Jasur Yaxshiboyev

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

94 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

15 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Obod taken apart

0‑3 to Lokomotiv, 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.

Match

The wait goes on for Obod

4 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.

Squad

Albert Nurullayev 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Suhrobjon Sultonov 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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Obod

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Bobur Ganiev

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Aleksandr Zevadinov 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.

Squad

Obod pick somebody else ahead of Akmal Tukhtasinov

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.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Albert Nurullayev

Marked 5.44, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

  • Player ratings Nodir Ahmedov never got going
  • Market The clock does Ebuka Akobundu’s negotiating for him
  • Boardroom The Obod production line keeps running
91 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Otabek Hasanov damages knee ligaments — 23 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.

Market

Ebuka Akobundu puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Jasur Yaxshiboyev 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.

Squad

Home is on Ebuka Akobundu's mind

“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.

Squad

No hiding place for Jasur Yaxshiboyev

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jasur Yaxshiboyev, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Rian Islomov

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

89 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Otabek Hasanov damages knee ligaments — 37 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 37 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 terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 17 of the 34 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Match

The cup run ends for Obod

1‑3 against Bunyodkor, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

A first appearance Sardor Komilov will want to forget — 5.60

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.60, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Albert Nurullayev 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.

Match

Obod come up short against Nasaf

Nasaf left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

No hiding place for Oybek Rustamov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oybek Rustamov, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Mustaqim Boboqulov runs at them all day

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.

Loan watch

Otabek Suyunov wants to come home

“I did not go to Nasaf to sit and watch. I want to come back to Obod and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

In brief

65 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Obod boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Albert Nurullayev 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Odil Ahmedov has seen enough of Shortan

“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 4 appearances in 37 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

64 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Nodir Ahmedov says Obod went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Albert Nurullayev 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.

Loan watch

Otabek Suyunov has seen enough of Metallurg

“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 39 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

59 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Mirzo Ahmedov asks to leave Obod

“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.

Squad

Eldor Ismailov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Obod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Albert Nurullayev 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Obod come up short against Qizilqum

Qizilqum left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Abdulla Al-Shamsi

“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.

Loan watch

Ulugbek Akhmedov wants to come home

“I did not go to Pakhtakor to sit and watch. I want to come back to Obod and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.

Squad

Words at Obod training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sphamandla Sithole 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.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Mirzo Ahmedov

Marked 5.30, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

Market

Still no ink between Obod and Akmal Tukhtasinov

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Obod, another week without a signature from Akmal Tukhtasinov.

In brief

54 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Umid Tukhtasinov breaks a bone — 38 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Suood Ali puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Suhrobjon Sultonov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Suhrobjon Sultonov commits to Obod for another 2 years.

Market

Only the photograph left for Umid Abdullaev

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Umid Abdullaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Obod the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words at Obod training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Nurullayev 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.

Player ratings

Mirzo Ahmedov did the work nobody counts — 5.89

12 combined actions and 5.89. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Mirzo Ahmedov 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 ratings

Bobur Ganiev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Obod and Neftchi take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

52 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Umid Tukhtasinov out for 53 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Obod will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 34 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Tempers go at Obod

Albert Nurullayev 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.

Match

Obod come up short against Nasaf

Nasaf left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Jasur Yaxshiboyev 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.

Loan watch

Otabek Suyunov has seen enough of Metallurg

“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 0 appearances in 27 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Sphamandla Sithole 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Bobur Ganiev

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Albert Nurullayev could not find anything

5.56. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

In brief

44 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Umid Tukhtasinov breaks a bone — 112 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

8 matches without a win for Obod

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Obod are no longer polite ones.

Market

Suood Ali puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Akmal Tukhtasinov says Obod went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Ebuka Akobundu 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Obod training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danila Zhdanov 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 watch

Otabek Suyunov counts the days

“I watch every Obod 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.

Match

Honours even between Obod and Qizilqum

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Player ratings

Bobur Ganiev runs at them all day

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.

In brief

41 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Eldor Masharipov 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 Obod can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to Obod's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Obod has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Jasur Yaxshiboyev 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Islom Tukhtasinov’s goal not enough for Obod

Islom Tukhtasinov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to AGMK, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Danila Zhdanov 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.

Squad

Obod lose Akmal Tukhtasinov

30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

No hiding place for Mirzo Ahmedov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirzo Ahmedov, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Odil Ahmedov counts the days

“I watch every Obod game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Shortan runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Player ratings

Albert Nurullayev could not find anything

4.94. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

In brief

37 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Eldor Masharipov asks to leave Obod

“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.

Squad

Kamronbek Hamroyev keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Obod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Ebuka Akobundu 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Sphamandla Sithole 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.

Squad

Obod count the cost of losing Akmal Tukhtasinov

59 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Loan watch

Odil Ahmedov wants to come home

“I did not go to Shortan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Obod and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

Market

Akmal Tukhtasinov told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Akmal Tukhtasinov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Obod.

Player ratings

Jasur Yaxshiboyev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Obod draw a blank against Nasaf

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Nasaf defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

9 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ebuka Akobundu puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Ebuka Akobundu 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Whatever happens, Obod do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Islom Tukhtasinov 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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Danila Zhdanov

17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Obod pick somebody else ahead of Eldor Ismailov

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Farhod Masharipov asks to leave Obod

“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.

Squad

Sphamandla Sithole 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 terraces

Obod supporters have found a favourite in Humoyunshoh Sayyotov

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Humoyunshoh Sayyotov 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Bobur Mirzaev

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bobur Mirzaev, and the manager let it.

Squad

Obod pick somebody else ahead of Eldor Ismailov

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.

Match

Honours even between Obod and Qizilqum

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Squad

Ebuka Akobundu 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.

Player ratings

Bobur Ganiev runs at them all day

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.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Akmal Shomurodov

Marked 5.56, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

4 Edition

The Obod Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Umid Ismailov 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 Obod can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to Obod's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Obod has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

A first appearance Otabek Suyunov will want to forget — 5.56

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.56, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Obod

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Words at Obod training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sphamandla Sithole 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.

Squad

Umid Ismailov 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 Obod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Akmal Tukhtasinov 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.

Squad

The plan did not have a place for Ebuka Akobundu

Nobody at Obod is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

Match

Obod and AGMK cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. AGMK came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief