Marked for Matej Šimić
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Dec 2031
Pressure builds in the Nasaf boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad22 Dec 2031
A fracture rules Oybek Rustamov out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Nasaf will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market22 Dec 2031
“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 Dec 2031
A falling-out at Nasaf
Muhammadrasul Abdumajidov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Dec 2031
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Murodbek Rahmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Dec 2031
Wages swallow 100% 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.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nasaf, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
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.
Market22 Dec 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abduvohid Ne'matov signs something — a contract at Nasaf or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Nov 2031
96 days out for Oybek Rustamov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Nasaf will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom24 Nov 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Nasaf
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad24 Nov 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Islom Mirzaev
20 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.
Market24 Nov 2031
“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 Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Murodbek Rahmatov 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 Nov 2031
“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 Nasaf know it.
Boardroom24 Nov 2031
Wages swallow 107% 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.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
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 Ibrahim Diabaté is on it.
Market24 Nov 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abduvohid Ne'matov signs something — a contract at Nasaf or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Nov 2031
A fracture rules Oybek Rustamov out for 103 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Nasaf will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Islom Mirzaev damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Market17 Nov 2031
“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 Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Nov 2031
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Nasaf had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Abduvohid Ne'matov 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.
Market17 Nov 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout20 Oct 2031
“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.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Muhammadrasul Abdumajidov 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.
Squad20 Oct 2031
The medical room confirms 68 days on the sidelines for Yashnarbek Berdirahmonov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Oct 2031
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Nasaf can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 Oct 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Oct 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bobur Abdiholiqov and Nasaf agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Oct 2031
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad6 Oct 2031
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 Oct 2031
Shahzod Toirov 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 dugout6 Oct 2031
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Bobur Abdiholiqov is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market6 Oct 2031
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.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
Matej Šimić knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matej Šimić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Sep 2031
The scrutiny sharpens at Nasaf
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Nasaf is running low.
Market29 Sep 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Sep 2031
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.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sharof Muhiddinov 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.
Boardroom29 Sep 2031
125% of the income goes out in wages at Nasaf
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
“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 dugout29 Sep 2031
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.
Market29 Sep 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abduvohid Ne'matov signs something — a contract at Nasaf or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
Matej Šimić 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Sep 2031
Full time on the season at Nasaf
Position 8 on 48 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Market22 Sep 2031
“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.
Match20 Sep 2031
The wait goes on for Nasaf
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.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Muhammadrasul Abdumajidov 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 Sep 2031
One of our own: Odil Akhmedov joins the Nasaf first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Odil Akhmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market22 Sep 2031
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eldor Tukhtasinov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market22 Sep 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Shohruh Ismailov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Sharof Muhiddinov 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 ratings22 Sep 2031
Marked 7.38 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Nasaf had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Sep 2031
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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
“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 Nasaf know it.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shahzod Toirov 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.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Nasaf told Dilshod Abdullayev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
The manager makes an example of Shahzod Toirov
“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.
Boardroom15 Sep 2031
Nasaf can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
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.
Match13 Sep 2031
No goals between Nasaf and AGMK
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. AGMK will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market25 Aug 2031
“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 Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Muhammadrasul Abdumajidov 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 dugout25 Aug 2031
“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.
Match23 Aug 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davron To'laganov. 1‑0 against Sogdiana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad25 Aug 2031
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shahzod Toirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
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.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Jul 2031
3‑0, and Bobur Abdiholiqov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Nasaf tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Jul 2031
A brace, and Bobur Abdiholiqov takes the afternoon — 9.34
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bobur Abdiholiqov provided it, and the 9.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings28 Jul 2031
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market28 Jul 2031
Matej Šimić 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 Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jul 2031
A season average of 7.45 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Muhammadrasul Abdumajidov 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.
Boardroom28 Jul 2031
Nasaf counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Nasaf now.
Match26 Jul 2031
Nasaf settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Shortan spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Player ratings28 Jul 2031
Marked 8.34. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nasaf.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Jul 2031
No mercy from Nasaf
Obod will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nasaf were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings21 Jul 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market21 Jul 2031
“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.
The dugout21 Jul 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nasaf may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Bobur Abdiholiqov
14 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Tempers go at Nasaf
Abduvohid Ne'matov 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.
Market21 Jul 2031
Add another name to the list: Qizilqum have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samandar Toirov. The answer from Nasaf has not changed — yet.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sharof Muhiddinov 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 ratings21 Jul 2031
Ninety minutes of Adenis Shala at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nasaf.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Jul 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Nasaf
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market7 Jul 2031
“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 Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jul 2031
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.
Squad7 Jul 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oybek Rustamov commits to Nasaf for another 2 years.
Boardroom7 Jul 2031
Wages eat 135% of everything Nasaf earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sharof Muhiddinov 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 ratings7 Jul 2031
Ninety minutes of Davron To'laganov at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nasaf.
Squad7 Jul 2031
“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 Nasaf know it.
Player ratings7 Jul 2031
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
Crisis
Market30 Jun 2031
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.
Market30 Jun 2031
“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 Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Jun 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nasaf is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom30 Jun 2031
The numbers do not look good at Nasaf
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match28 Jun 2031
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sharof Muhiddinov 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 Jun 2031
A falling-out at Nasaf
Samandar Muratboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
Matej Šimić 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jun 2031
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bukhara had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market9 Jun 2031
Matej Šimić 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 Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Jun 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad9 Jun 2031
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.
Boardroom9 Jun 2031
Wages eat 135% of everything Nasaf earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sharof Muhiddinov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
“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 ratings9 Jun 2031
9 combined actions and 7.15. 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.
Match9 Jun 2031
The half-term report on Nasaf
Position 8, 24 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 May 2031
Nasaf throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Sogdiana the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Nasaf will enjoy reviewing.
Squad12 May 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings12 May 2031
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings12 May 2031
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.65 for the rest of it.
Match10 May 2031
A bad afternoon for Nasaf against Sogdiana
3‑4 to Sogdiana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abduvohid Ne'matov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom12 May 2031
124% of the income goes out in wages at Nasaf
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Player ratings12 May 2031
Davronbek Usmonov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad12 May 2031
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Mar 2031
27 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market10 Mar 2031
Matej Šimić 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 Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings10 Mar 2031
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.30 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match8 Mar 2031
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Market10 Mar 2031
Only the photograph left for Stefan Čolović
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Čolović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Mar 2031
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.
Match8 Mar 2031
Qizilqum made Nasaf work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Boardroom10 Mar 2031
Nasaf still without a manager
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Jan 2031
42 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.
Market20 Jan 2031
Bukhara come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Nasaf did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom20 Jan 2031
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad20 Jan 2031
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.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adenis Shala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market20 Jan 2031
The name of Suhayb Al Kharusi has come up in conversations Nasaf were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market20 Jan 2031
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Muhammed Habibullayev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Nasaf.
The dugout20 Jan 2031
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.
Squad20 Jan 2031
The formation has left Matej Šimić behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Nasaf will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings13 May 2030
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match11 May 2030
The run at home goes on for Pakhtakor
17 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match11 May 2030
Whatever happens, Pakhtakor do not lose
13 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.
Market13 May 2030
“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.
Market13 May 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pakhtakor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match11 May 2030
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad13 May 2030
Sherzod Nasrullayev 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.
Boardroom13 May 2030
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Pakhtakor now.
Looking ahead13 May 2030
Top-of-the-table clash for Pakhtakor
Sogdiana next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
A defender's goal wins it for Pakhtakor — 7.57
1 for Behruzbek Asqarov, marked 7.57, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match9 Mar 2030
4 matches without a win for Pakhtakor
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Pakhtakor are no longer polite ones.
Market11 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pakhtakor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pakhtakor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Pakhtakor now.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
“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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at Pakhtakor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hojiakbar Alijonov 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 ratings11 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
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