From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Bukhara
Vladimir Rodić 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Bukhara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadsafo Fozilov 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Sherzod Esanov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Bukhara say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nika Kacharava 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market12 Oct 2026
Bukhara have made Oybek Shomurodov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bukhara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bukhara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Shirinboy Abdullayev 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
Vladimir Rodić 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 181% of everything Bukhara 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Amirbek Saidov is the month’s best young player
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Bukhara will try not to make too much of it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Bukhara 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 dugout5 Oct 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.73 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 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 Bukhara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Oybek Shomurodov arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Oybek Shomurodov has, at Bukhara, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Match26 Sep 2026
Obod made Bukhara work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Bukhara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Begić 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
The game went through Dominik Begić — 6.99
Marked 6.99 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.87, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 Sep 2026
The drought breaks for Bukhara
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Navbahor were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Bukhara
Vladimir Rodić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Navbahor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Anvarjon Jo'rayev's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Bukhara
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Bukhara are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atyrau have kept their man, and Bukhara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sherzod Ismailov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Bukhara ran out of time with Navbahor. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The dugout14 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Bukhara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Qulmatov 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.47. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Pakhtakor came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Bukhara
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Bukhara are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Bukhara until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bukhara have done the hard part with Navbahor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market7 Sep 2026
Kiril Todorov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bukhara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Bukhara asked and AEL Larisa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match5 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Bukhara against Andijon
0‑2 to Andijon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Bukhara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Qulmatov 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Amirbek Saidov is the month’s best young player
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Bukhara will try not to make too much of it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Bukhara
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Ibroxim Numonov gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ibroxim Numonov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Bukhara
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.
Squad31 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 Bukhara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Navbahor have kept their man, and Bukhara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan move for Tijan Vasić is in the works
Bukhara have made the call to Olimpija Ljubljana. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Qizilqum leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Bukhara's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bukhara has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The deal with Rivers United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Bukhara
Vladimir Rodić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Ibroxim Numonov again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotivi. Bukhara are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match22 Aug 2026
Kokand 1912 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Bukhara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Qulmatov 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Javohir Ro'ziyev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2026
Bukhara bow out of the cup
Navbahor go through and Bukhara go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 7 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Bukhara are taken apart by Navbahor — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Basaksehir is saying, and nobody at Bukhara is enjoying the guessing.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Bukhara
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bukhara are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Bukhara
Vladimir Rodić 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Bukhara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Qulmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 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
Market10 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bukhara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Basaksehir, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Bukhara had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Shakhtar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 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 Bukhara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nodir Abdullaev 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Otabek Nematov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdulla Abdullaev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sherzod Esanov and Bukhara agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Vladimir Rodić 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Bukhara asked and Nasarawa United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Bukhara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Qulmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Sherzod Esanov's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Ekrem Stancic is in the works
Bukhara have made the call to Basaksehir. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.