Marked for Jovan Krneta
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad5 Apr 2027
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match31 Mar 2027
The small margins put Obod out
Out, 1‑2 to Navbahor, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
36 days out for Aziz Ismailov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Obod will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Apr 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 The request is on a desk at Obod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Odil Urunov: 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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Odil Urunov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Obod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Odil Tukhtasinov
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Obod lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A brace, and Akmal Fayzullaev takes the afternoon — 9.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Akmal Fayzullaev provided it, and the 9.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad22 Mar 2027
50 days out for Aziz Ismailov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Obod will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 Mar 2027
It had gone 12 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Market22 Mar 2027
“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 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Obod
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Mar 2027
Obod get the job done against Shortan
A 3‑1 win over Shortan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match20 Mar 2027
Shortan blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Shortan tried to reorganise, Obod did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
In brief
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Player ratings
Islom Urunov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Obod
12 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A one-man rearguard from Rodion Zimin
There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Odil Tukhtasinov damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A hiding for Obod
Beaten 2‑8 by Pakhtakor, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match13 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Obod
11 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market15 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Aziz Ismailov breaks a bone — 57 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.71, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Obod
11 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
11 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Chastening afternoon for Obod
A 0‑3 beating by Navbahor was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match6 Mar 2027
Obod leaking at the back
10 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad8 Mar 2027
64 days out for Aziz Ismailov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Obod will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Mar 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
Asan Vaniyev: 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Odil Urunov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Odil Urunov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Obod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Obod
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Aziz Ismailov breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Obod close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 1 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 targets1 Feb 2027
Obod offered $1.4M; AGMK said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Mashal, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Jovan Krneta 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Obod ran out of time with Mashal. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Asan Vaniyev
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Obod board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market25 Jan 2027
Obod sell their best player to Metallurg
$25.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
110 days out for Aziz Ismailov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Obod will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters turn on the $25.0K sale of Amir Ganiev
He is going to Metallurg, the club has $25.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Obod have gone to AGMK with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Obod
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Somebody else’s transfer, somebody else’s headline. What it left at Obod is a friend gone and a player who keeps looking at the space.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Sherzod Ismailov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Asadbek Habibullayev has just signed for Obod, and for once the answer mattered.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Obod
Akmal Fayzullaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Asan Vaniyev 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Obod are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Jovan Krneta without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Jovan Krneta was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Asan Vaniyev has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Obod will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Obod
Position 14 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Jovan Krneta
“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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
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The dugout
The manager makes Asan Vaniyev a promise
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The dugout
The manager comes out for Timur Urunov
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Squad
Amir Ganiev is out on the grass again
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Eldor Nematov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Abdulla Masharipov damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Jovan Krneta 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Asan Vaniyev and Obod agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asan Vaniyev, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Abdulla Ahmedov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
$1.1M taken back off the Obod table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market7 Dec 2026
The name of Islom Urunov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Obod say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Obod
Akmal Fayzullaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Obod
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amir Tukhtasinov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Nov 2026
The name of Islom Urunov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Obod say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Obod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Obod spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jovan Krneta, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 2026
Obod and Asan Vaniyev are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Bobur Fayzullaev is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager comes out for Rodion Zimin
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Rodion Zimin has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Obod lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match26 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Obod
Position 14 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
70 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Oct 2026
Rodion Zimin 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Asan Vaniyev 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostislav Kurdyumov 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Obod told Rostislav Kurdyumov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Obod
Akmal Fayzullaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Asan Vaniyev 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Islom Urunov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Obod say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The penny has dropped for Jovan Krneta
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Obod the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Obod lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Obod
10 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.03 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match26 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Obod
9 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match28 Sep 2026
Obod sink to position 14
2 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A one-man rearguard from Rodion Zimin
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Obod
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zafarbek Akramov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Sep 2026
Obod caught on 95 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bukhara scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Obod lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Obod's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Obod has to find a result from somewhere.
Market21 Sep 2026
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Obod
8 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Amir Tukhtasinov: 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Obod training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zafarbek Akramov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Obod lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match5 Sep 2026
Obod taken apart
1‑4 to Kokand 1912, 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Obod
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Obod are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Obod close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Obod are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Obod
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Obod asked and Bukhara 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
Jovan Krneta 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
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
Obod say no — this time
The offer from Navbahor for Mirzo Mirzaev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Obod
6 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Aziz 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Obod leaking at the back
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Rostislav Kurdyumov 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Akmal Fayzullaev had Obod level again within 3 minutes, and Lokomotiv never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market10 Aug 2026
Nasaf come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Obod did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Pakhtakor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Akmal Fayzullaev and Obod agree another 3 years.
Match8 Aug 2026
Obod come up short against Neftchi
Neftchi left with the points after a 3‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Obod
Jovan Krneta 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Islom Urunov among the goals in a wild afternoon
8 goals in one match, Islom Urunov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Obod and Neftchi.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rostislav Kurdyumov and Obod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasaf have kept their man, and Obod go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Jaloliddin Hasanov 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Akmal Fayzullaev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
No place for Jovan Krneta in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Obod are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Obod have made the call to Pakhtakor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Match1 Aug 2026
It needed Akmal Fayzullaev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Sogdiana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.