“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 The request is on a desk at Andijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Po'latxo'ja Xoldorxonov has come up in conversations Andijon were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doniyor Abdumannopov, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
7 new faces, and Andijon are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Andijon can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Andijon have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saleh Al-Qumayzi 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.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Andijon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Andijon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Martin Boakye 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Andijon training over how hard people work
BoardroomWages eat 102% of everything Andijon earn
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
“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 Andijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Andijon training over how hard people work
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Andijon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadImeda Ashortia falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saleh Al-Qumayzi 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.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Andijon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Andijon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
“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 Andijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Imeda Ashortia 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Saleh Al-Qumayzi 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.
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.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Andijon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Andijon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Doniyor Abdumannopov 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Andijon training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
“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 Andijon know it.
Martin Boakye 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Imeda Ashortia 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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 137 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Andijon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Martin Boakye 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.
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 words a physio says slowly. 144 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Andijon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Saleh Al-Qumayzi 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.
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.
Mashal will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Suhrobjon Parmonqulov has pre-agreed a move to Andijon, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Marked 4.77. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Imeda Ashortia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Doniyor Abdumannopov 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Sayfiddin Sodikov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Andijon have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Doniyor Abdumannopov signs something — a contract at Andijon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Akbar O'ktamov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Andijon have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saleh Al-Qumayzi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Doniyor Abdumannopov. 1‑0 against Pakhtakor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Asadbek Habibullayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Andijon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Martin Boakye 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Imeda Ashortia 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.
Shortan will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Asilbek Anvarov has pre-agreed a move to Andijon, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The phone has started ringing about Abubakir Ashurov again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotiv. Andijon are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Andijon scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Add another name to the list: Atyrau have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Doniyor Abdumannopov. The answer from Andijon has not changed — yet.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Asilbek Tojiddinov has agreed terms with Sogdiana for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Martin Boakye 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.
18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Andijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Imeda Ashortia 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.