From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Nov 2029
The medical room confirms 81 days on the sidelines for Naoufel Zerhouni, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market5 Nov 2029
Kiril Todorov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Nov 2029
60 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch5 Nov 2029
“I watch every Bunyodkor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Persik runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Oct 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market29 Oct 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Oct 2029
Zakaria Fuseini: 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.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market22 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bunyodkor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Oct 2029
A season average of 7.37 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bunyodkor know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Oct 2029
Bunyodkor refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 65 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market15 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bunyodkor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Itsuki Urata 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 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sadriddin Hasanov, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Oct 2029
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market15 Oct 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matija Krivokapić signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Oct 2029
110 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Oct 2029
88 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market8 Oct 2029
Kiril Todorov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Itsuki Urata and Bunyodkor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Market8 Oct 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bunyodkor, another week without a signature from Marko Bugarin.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Sep 2029
He is 21, he is averaging 7.37, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Market24 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bunyodkor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Shohboz Umarov
8 goals and a season average of 7.63 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A performance of 9.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match22 Sep 2029
It finished 2‑1, and it was Shohboz Umarov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bunyodkor.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Marked 8.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“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
Upbeat
Match17 Sep 2029
62 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market17 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bunyodkor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Sep 2029
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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Sep 2029
Three points for Bunyodkor, 3‑2 the final word against Sogdiana in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Marked 8.89 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“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 ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Sep 2029
139 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad10 Sep 2029
117 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market10 Sep 2029
Only the photograph left for Kiril Todorov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kiril Todorov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bunyodkor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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 Sep 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Sep 2029
4 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market10 Sep 2029
The name of Nikoloz Mali keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Bunyodkor say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Sep 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 55. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market3 Sep 2029
Bukhara come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Bunyodkor did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 9.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.97 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.91, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match1 Sep 2029
Metallurg made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Aug 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 53. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market27 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
A season average of 7.28 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bunyodkor know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market27 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bunyodkor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Itsuki Urata 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
A season average of 7.61 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.77 on the card, and the Bunyodkor support went home talking about one name.
Squad27 Aug 2029
The team sheet said everything about Dmitry Pletnev
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Dmitry Pletnev.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Shots: 14, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match20 Aug 2029
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 55 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market20 Aug 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“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.
Match18 Aug 2029
Bunyodkor make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Bunyodkor have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad20 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Marked 9.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“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.
Match18 Aug 2029
A 2‑0 win over Shortan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
A defender's afternoon for Rakan Kaabi
Defensive actions: 39. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad13 Aug 2029
145 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market13 Aug 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market13 Aug 2029
Kiril Todorov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match11 Aug 2029
Bunyodkor make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Bunyodkor have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Itsuki Urata 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.97, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match11 Aug 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Hojimat Erkinov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bunyodkor.
Squad13 Aug 2029
The team sheet said everything about Naoufel Zerhouni
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Naoufel Zerhouni.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Aug 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 50 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Market6 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdumavlon Abdujalilov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bunyodkor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“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.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shohboz Umarov commits to Bunyodkor for another 3 years.
Squad6 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Marked 8.67 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match4 Aug 2029
Navbahor made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Jul 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 49 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Match28 Jul 2029
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Bukhara, and it could have been more.
Market30 Jul 2029
“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.
Market30 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Asadbek Rahimjonov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bunyodkor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Jul 2029
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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
A season average of 7.19 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bunyodkor know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
6 goals and a season average of 7.62. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
A performance of 9.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Jul 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 48. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match23 Jul 2029
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 43 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market23 Jul 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
A performance of 9.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A season average of 7.57 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikoloz Mali, and the manager let it.
Loan watch23 Jul 2029
“I did not go to Persik to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bunyodkor and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Jul 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 47 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Market16 Jul 2029
“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.
Market16 Jul 2029
Bunyodkor say no — this time
The offer from Kokand 1912 for Asadbek Rahimjonov 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bunyodkor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
A performance of 9.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad16 Jul 2029
“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.
Market16 Jul 2029
Kokand 1912 are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Bunyodkor will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Jul 2029
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
46 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Zakaria Fuseini: 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.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market9 Jul 2029
Only the photograph left for Kiril Todorov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kiril Todorov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bunyodkor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Naoufel Zerhouni and Bunyodkor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Itsuki Urata 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
Kokand 1912 made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Jun 2029
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
45 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.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 34, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market2 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Market2 Jul 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market2 Jul 2029
Bunyodkor say no — this time
The offer from Kokand 1912 for Abdumavlon Abdujalilov 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Naoufel Zerhouni commits to Bunyodkor for another 2 years.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
A season average of 7.10 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Bunyodkor know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Jun 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 44. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match25 Jun 2029
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 35 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market25 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bunyodkor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bunyodkor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Sardor Rahmonov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Marked 8.86 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match23 Jun 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Marko Bugarin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bunyodkor.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Jun 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 43 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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.
Market18 Jun 2029
Bunyodkor say no — this time
The offer from AGMK for Asadbek Rahimjonov 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“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.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
A performance of 8.58 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Shohboz Umarov
4 goals and a season average of 7.49 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Jun 2029
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
41 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.
Market11 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bunyodkor will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Marked 8.90 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikoloz Mali, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jun 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Bunyodkor have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Jun 2029
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
40 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.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
He is 21, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Marked 9.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match2 Jun 2029
Sogdiana made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 May 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 39 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Match28 May 2029
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market28 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 May 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A defender's afternoon for Rakan Kaabi
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 May 2029
“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.
Squad28 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A defender's afternoon for Marko Bugarin
Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 May 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 38. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market21 May 2029
“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.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A defender's afternoon for Rakan Kaabi
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 May 2029
Lebohang Lesako: 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.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 May 2029
Itsuki Urata was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 May 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match19 May 2029
A 1‑0 win over Metallurg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad21 May 2029
4 goals and a season average of 7.45. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A defender's afternoon for Marko Bugarin
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 May 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 37. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad14 May 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 May 2029
“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.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 May 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 May 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 May 2029
“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.
Match12 May 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marko Bugarin. 1‑0 against Mashal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 May 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 36 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Marked 8.65 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad7 May 2029
“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.
Market7 May 2029
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
The award goes to Shohboz Umarov, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Match5 May 2029
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad7 May 2029
Hojimat Erkinov 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
Upbeat
Match28 Apr 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 35 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Match30 Apr 2029
Bunyodkor refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 19 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market30 Apr 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.42, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Apr 2029
Three points for Bunyodkor, 2‑1 the final word against Obod in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Nikoloz Mali
“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.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Marked 8.52 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Apr 2029
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
34 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
A performance of 9.95 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match21 Apr 2029
Navbahor made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“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 ratings23 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad23 Apr 2029
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Bunyodkor have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
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.
Market23 Apr 2029
The Nikoloz Mali talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Apr 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 33 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Marked 8.80 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Itsuki Urata
“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.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.48, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match14 Apr 2029
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nosirjon Abdusalomov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Apr 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 32. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match4 Apr 2029
Bunyodkor march on in the cup
Shortan are out and Bunyodkor go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Marked 9.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naoufel Zerhouni, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Marked 8.70 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
The afternoon belonged to Rakan Kaabi
A mark of 7.68, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Apr 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
A defender's afternoon for Rakan Kaabi
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match31 Mar 2029
Nobody wants to play Bunyodkor right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad2 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“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.
Match31 Mar 2029
Three points for Bunyodkor, 1‑0 the final word against Qizilqum in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad2 Apr 2029
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Mar 2029
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 29. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match24 Mar 2029
3‑0, and Matija Krivokapić took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Bunyodkor tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market26 Mar 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad26 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Marked 9.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Marked 8.60 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Mar 2029
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
28 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Mar 2029
A 3‑1 win over Lokomotiv, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Marked 9.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.80, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sardor Rahmonov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad19 Mar 2029
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Bunyodkor have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Mar 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 27 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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 ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match10 Mar 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. AGMK defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market12 Mar 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Mar 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 26 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Market5 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Market5 Mar 2029
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Suhrobjon Sultonov is a Bunyodkor player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market5 Mar 2029
The shirt still fits. Akmal Nematov is back at Bunyodkor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market5 Mar 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitry Pletnev and Bunyodkor agree another 3 years.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Feb 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“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
Steady
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bunyodkor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hojimat Erkinov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Sardor Rahmonov 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hojimat Erkinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Feb 2029
69 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sardor Rahmonov, and the manager let it.
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Nosirjon Abdusalomov. Bunyodkor will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Sardor Rahmonov 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
Bukhara paid $23.0K and Bunyodkor took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad29 Jan 2029
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samandarjon Mavlonqulov, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Sardor Rahmonov 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
Steady
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Jan 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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
Steady
Market15 Jan 2029
Bunyodkor say no — this time
The offer from Bukhara for Muhammadyusuf Sobirov 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Najmiddin Normurodov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Jan 2029
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 69 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market8 Jan 2029
Sogdiana come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Bunyodkor did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Bunyodkor has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Jan 2029
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Bunyodkor will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad1 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jan 2029
61 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Najmiddin Normurodov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market1 Jan 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Abdumavlon Abdujalilov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Bunyodkor.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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
Steady
Squad25 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“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 Dec 2028
“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
Steady
Squad18 Dec 2028
Itsuki Urata 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
21 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“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
Steady
Match11 Dec 2028
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 69 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Itsuki Urata 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Dec 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Naoufel Zerhouni commits to Bunyodkor for another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Dec 2028
The medical room confirms 92 days on the sidelines for Farruhjon Qodirov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad4 Dec 2028
48 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market4 Dec 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bunyodkor, another week without a signature from Asadbek Rahimjonov.
Market4 Dec 2028
The Nikoloz Mali talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Nov 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Sardor Rahmonov
“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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
Continental nights are coming to Bunyodkor
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“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 Nov 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Bunyodkor will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad20 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 49 days on the sidelines for Amir Hasanov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch20 Nov 2028
“I did not go to Astana to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bunyodkor and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Nov 2028
69 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Nov 2028
Asadbek Rahimjonov 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 81 days on the sidelines for Najmiddin Normurodov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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.
Market6 Nov 2028
The Nikoloz Mali talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The Bunyodkor production line keeps running
11 graduates out of an academy now rated 11 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bunyodkor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Itsuki Urata 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“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
Steady
Squad23 Oct 2028
Sardor Rahmonov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch23 Oct 2028
“I did not go to Astana to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bunyodkor and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“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
Steady
Match16 Oct 2028
69 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bunyodkor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
110 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdumavlon Abdujalilov and Bunyodkor agree another 2 years.
Market9 Oct 2028
The Nikoloz Mali talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
The Bunyodkor production line keeps running
11 graduates out of an academy now rated 11 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Oct 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdumavlon Abdujalilov and Bunyodkor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“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
Steady
Match23 Sep 2028
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 25. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match23 Sep 2028
A 2‑1 win over Neftchi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad25 Sep 2028
13 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad25 Sep 2028
8 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Marked 8.58 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Sep 2028
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 24. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match18 Sep 2028
66 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Bunyodkor's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bunyodkor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Sep 2028
80 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammadyusuf Sobirov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
90% of the income goes out in wages at Bunyodkor
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Sep 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 23 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Itsuki Urata 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Sardor Rahmonov
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A season average of 7.33 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match9 Sep 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market11 Sep 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikoloz Mali’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Bunyodkor that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Market11 Sep 2028
Bunyodkor opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Bilolxon Toshmirzayev stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Sep 2028
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 22. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Asadbek Rahimjonov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad4 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Nikoloz Mali
“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.
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A season average of 7.32 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match2 Sep 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Metallurg leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Getting past Federico Botti has become the hardest job in the division
6 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 21 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Getting past Muhammadyusuf Sobirov has become the hardest job in the division
13 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Marko Bugarin
7 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 7.70 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Bunyodkor had the best player on the pitch.
Market28 Aug 2028
Nasaf are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Bunyodkor will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“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
Upbeat
Match21 Aug 2028
Bunyodkor refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 62 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad21 Aug 2028
111 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match19 Aug 2028
Nobody wants to play Bunyodkor right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad21 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Aug 2028
Shortan made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 19 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
A performance of 9.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match12 Aug 2028
Obod made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdumavlon Abdujalilov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Aug 2028
12 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Aug 2028
Still nobody has beaten Bunyodkor
The unbeaten run reaches 18. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad7 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Aug 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Matija Krivokapić’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bunyodkor.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Najmiddin Normurodov commits to Bunyodkor for another 2 years.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Aug 2028
11 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad7 Aug 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Bunyodkor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Jul 2028
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
17 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Itsuki Urata, and the manager let it.
Market31 Jul 2028
Everyone has stopped pretending: Astana will make the call about Sadriddin Hasanov this week. Bunyodkor have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad31 Jul 2028
7 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 Jul 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“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
Upbeat
Match22 Jul 2028
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
16 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.
Match24 Jul 2028
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 52 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Astana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sadriddin Hasanov. The answer from Bunyodkor has not changed — yet.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Itsuki Urata 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 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Getting past Muhammadyusuf Sobirov has become the hardest job in the division
10 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.95 on the card, and the Bunyodkor support went home talking about one name.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Wages eat 96% of everything Bunyodkor 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match15 Jul 2028
Nobody wants to play Bunyodkor right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad17 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match15 Jul 2028
Three points for Bunyodkor, 1‑0 the final word against Qizilqum in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Jul 2028
3 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“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
Upbeat
Match8 Jul 2028
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
14 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Jul 2028
A 2‑1 win over Kokand 1912, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
Marked 8.93 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
A performance of 8.92 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matija Krivokapić, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Naoufel Zerhouni
3 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
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
Upbeat
Match1 Jul 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Market3 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Jul 2028
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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdumavlon Abdujalilov, and the manager let it.
Match1 Jul 2028
Lokomotiv made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Marked 8.44 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Defensive actions: 38, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match26 Jun 2028
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 42 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match24 Jun 2028
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
12 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Getting past Muhammadyusuf Sobirov has become the hardest job in the division
9 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
87% of the income goes out in wages at Bunyodkor
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“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
Triumph
Match17 Jun 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Bunyodkor did not have in the autumn.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Match17 Jun 2028
A 3‑2 win over Pakhtakor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Marked 9.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A performance of 8.72 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Marko Bugarin
6 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bakaye Dibassy, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Defensive actions: 34, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match10 Jun 2028
Whatever happens, Bunyodkor do not lose
10 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Asadbek Rahimjonov 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Sardor Rahmonov
“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.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Jun 2028
43 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
A defender's afternoon for Marko Bugarin
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A season average of 7.27 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match10 Jun 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Neftchi came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match3 Jun 2028
Bunyodkor make it 9 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Bunyodkor have 9 straight wins of it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Itsuki Urata 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Jun 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hojimat Erkinov. 3‑2 against Sogdiana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
A performance of 9.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Marked 8.92 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matija Krivokapić, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch5 Jun 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Bunyodkor, and 15 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Marko Bugarin
5 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match27 May 2028
Bunyodkor cannot stop winning
8 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match29 May 2028
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 34 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad29 May 2028
Sardor Rahmonov 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.
Squad29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Itsuki Urata, and the manager let it.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match27 May 2028
Nasaf made Bunyodkor work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Marked 8.47 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad29 May 2028
9 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Muhammadyusuf Sobirov has given nobody the chance.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match20 May 2028
Bunyodkor make it 7 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Bunyodkor have 7 straight wins of it.
Squad22 May 2028
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings22 May 2028
A performance of 9.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 May 2028
A performance of 9.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match20 May 2028
Three points for Bunyodkor, 2‑0 the final word against Metallurg in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad22 May 2028
8 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad22 May 2028
“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
Triumph
Player ratings15 May 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 37 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match13 May 2028
Bunyodkor make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Bunyodkor have 6 straight wins of it.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings15 May 2028
A performance of 9.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match13 May 2028
A 1‑0 win over Mashal, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad15 May 2028
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bunyodkor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings8 May 2028
Defensive actions: 32, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match6 May 2028
Bunyodkor cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Naoufel Zerhouni commits to Bunyodkor for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match6 May 2028
Three points for Bunyodkor, 1‑0 the final word against Shortan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings8 May 2028
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Pletnev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 May 2028
Bunyodkor are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 22 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad1 May 2028
There were 8 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Nobody wants to play Bunyodkor right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 May 2028
A performance of 9.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sardor Rahmonov, and the manager let it.
Match29 Apr 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Shohboz Umarov. 1‑0 against Obod, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A defender's afternoon for Marko Bugarin
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A defender's afternoon for Rakan Kaabi
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Naoufel Zerhouni was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A performance of 9.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match22 Apr 2028
Three points for Bunyodkor, 1‑0 the final word against Navbahor in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Apr 2028
44 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Apr 2028
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Bunyodkor have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Market24 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikoloz Mali’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Apr 2028
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad17 Apr 2028
There were 8 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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Itsuki Urata was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sardor Rahmonov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Apr 2028
Shortan ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Naoufel Zerhouni was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.97, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match8 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Marko Bugarin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bunyodkor.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Bunyodkor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match1 Apr 2028
Bunyodkor make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Bunyodkor have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Marked 9.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Marked 9.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match1 Apr 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Nosirjon Abdusalomov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bunyodkor.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sardor Rahmonov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad27 Mar 2028
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
A defender's afternoon for Itsuki Urata
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
A performance of 9.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Marked 8.61 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match25 Mar 2028
Three points for Bunyodkor, 1‑0 the final word against Kokand 1912 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Bunyodkor, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Mar 2028
“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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
A defender's afternoon for Rakan Kaabi
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad20 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match18 Mar 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Asadbek Rahimjonov. 1‑0 against Lokomotiv, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bakaye Dibassy, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“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
Uneasy
Match11 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Bunyodkor
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Naoufel Zerhouni was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
The afternoon belonged to Itsuki Urata
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.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
“I watch every Bunyodkor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Navbahor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammadyusuf Sobirov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I want to play”: Mor Buskila speaks
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Mar 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match4 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Bunyodkor
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Itsuki Urata commits to Bunyodkor for another 3 years.
Market6 Mar 2028
The shirt still fits. Amir Hasanov is back at Bunyodkor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market6 Mar 2028
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Otabek Akhmedov is a Bunyodkor player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market6 Mar 2028
The shirt still fits. Timur Nematov is back at Bunyodkor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market6 Mar 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Marko Bugarin 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Hojimat Erkinov
“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
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
Naoufel Zerhouni 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Loan watch28 Feb 2028
“I did not go to Andijon to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bunyodkor and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mor Buskila, and the manager let it.
Market21 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matija Krivokapić signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Feb 2028
Shohboz Umarov 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 Feb 2028
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Loan watch14 Feb 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Bunyodkor, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
This league is too small for Rakan Kaabi
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Bunyodkor will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Naoufel Zerhouni 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Bunyodkor know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Mor Buskila
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammadyusuf Sobirov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matija Krivokapić signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad24 Jan 2028
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Bunyodkor will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jan 2028
Naoufel Zerhouni 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammadyusuf Sobirov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market17 Jan 2028
The name of Nikoloz Mali keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Bunyodkor say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad17 Jan 2028
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Bunyodkor will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Jan 2028
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Naoufel Zerhouni keeps the shirt for now, at Bunyodkor's convenience rather than his own.
Market17 Jan 2028
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Hazratjon Tursunqulov arrives from AGMK with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jan 2028
Itsuki Urata 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Mor Buskila 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 Bunyodkor will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“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.
Market10 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jan 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Bunyodkor will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Itsuki Urata 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Navbahor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Farruhjon Qodirov. The answer from Bunyodkor has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Dec 2027
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Azizbek To'lqinbekov, and the manager let it.
Market27 Dec 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Matija Krivokapić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 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.
Market20 Dec 2027
The Nikoloz Mali talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I want to play”: Mor Buskila speaks
“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.