From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Azizxon Isaqov: 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.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Oct 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Kokand 1912 told Muhammadqodir Hamroaliyev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
Wages eat 91% of everything Kokand 1912 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sylvanus Nimely is on it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kokand 1912 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I want to stay in the game when I stop, and I am not going to wait until I stop to prepare for it.” At 35 the badges have begun, and every manager in the division remembers doing the same.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager plants his flag on Javohir Sidiqov
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Javohir Sidiqov’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
35 days of the agreement remain and 6 appearances sit behind him. Somebody has to decide what happens next.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Toma Tabatadze and Kokand 1912 agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Murodali Usmonov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Loan watch4 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Shortan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Kokand 1912 and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Too much change too quickly at Kokand 1912
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Mamane Moustapha Sabo is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Sep 2027
3‑0, and Toma Tabatadze took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Kokand 1912 tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market27 Sep 2027
Jasur Yoqubov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Toma Tabatadze takes the afternoon — 9.61
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Toma Tabatadze provided it, and the 9.61 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match27 Sep 2027
38 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Toma Tabatadze
18 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 ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market27 Sep 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Amir Ismailov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market27 Sep 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jaloliddin Ganiev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match18 Sep 2027
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Javohir Sidiqov scored in the 86th minute, Mashal had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Kokand 1912 took the lot.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A season average of 6.53 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Kokand 1912 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kokand 1912 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad20 Sep 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Sep 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Javohir Sidiqov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kokand 1912.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
At 16 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ulugbek Ganiev kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2027
Murodali Usmonov arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Murodali Usmonov has, at Kokand 1912, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Sylvanus Nimely 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 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Mamane Moustapha Sabo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ozodbek Marufov and Kokand 1912 agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asliddin Toshtemirov, and the manager let it.
Match11 Sep 2027
A goal on 87 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Kokand 1912 will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Sep 2027
Obod will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Kokand 1912 were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.57, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 11 in, 10 out at Kokand 1912
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 Sep 2027
16 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces6 Sep 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Azizxon Isaqov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A one-man rearguard from Prince Guèye
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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market30 Aug 2027
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Ibrohimjon Muxtorov is a Kokand 1912 player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match28 Aug 2027
Navbahor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alisher Salimov, and the manager let it.
In brief
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The dugout
No place for Azizxon Isaqov on the big day
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
Squad
5 new faces, and Kokand 1912 are still learning each other
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Aug 2027
4‑1, and Toma Tabatadze took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Kokand 1912 tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Toma Tabatadze
14 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Kokand 1912 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mamane Moustapha Sabo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
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 ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
A brace, and Nurbek Sarsenbaev takes the afternoon — 8.58
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nurbek Sarsenbaev provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market16 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kokand 1912 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match14 Aug 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Nurbek Sarsenbaev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kokand 1912 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad9 Aug 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Kokand 1912 asked and Godoy Cruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Ninety minutes of Sylvanus Nimely at his very best
Marked 8.03. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kokand 1912.
Match7 Aug 2027
Kokand 1912 rescue it on 94 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Qizilqum had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
Jasur Yoqubov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market2 Aug 2027
The offer from Nasaf for Toma Tabatadze 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shortan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kokand 1912 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Kokand 1912 — 7.79
1 for Mamane Moustapha Sabo, marked 7.79, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gimnasia La Plata keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match31 Jul 2027
A 3‑1 win over Pakhtakor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mamane Moustapha Sabo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Jul 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market26 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Trabzonspor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sogdiana have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match24 Jul 2027
0‑2 to Lokomotiv, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kokand 1912 has been clear about where G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dynamo Kyiv have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match17 Jul 2027
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match17 Jul 2027
AGMK made Kokand 1912 work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Kokand 1912 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mamane Moustapha Sabo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Kokand 1912's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kokand 1912 has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kokand 1912 have done the hard part with Javor-Matis, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Partizan have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Azizxon Isaqov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Ninety minutes of Yehor Kondratiuk at his very best
Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kokand 1912.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan move for Maksym Diachuk is in the works
Kokand 1912 have made the call to Dynamo Kyiv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Jul 2027
Jasur Yoqubov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Kokand 1912 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Pakhtakor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Match3 Jul 2027
4 matches without a win for Kokand 1912
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Kokand 1912 are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Kokand 1912 asked and Partizan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match3 Jul 2027
Neftchi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ulugbek Ganiev to a room that had heard them before.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Kokand 1912 have made the call to Javor-Matis. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Kokand 1912 academy
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
A one-man rearguard from Prince Guèye
There were 9 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match26 Jun 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Jun 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Jasur Yoqubov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Pakhtakor: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Akbar O'ktamov
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market21 Jun 2027
Lokomotiv paid $330.0K and Kokand 1912 took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Match19 Jun 2027
Nasaf left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Godoy Cruz have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Sylvanus Nimely was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ulugbek Ganiev after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2027
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokomotiv waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kokand 1912 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Jun 2027
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match12 Jun 2027
Kokand 1912 rescue it on 85 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Metallurg had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov, and the manager let it.
Match14 Jun 2027
The half-term report on Kokand 1912
Position 11, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
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
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Akbar O'ktamov
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kokand 1912 have done the hard part with Pakhtakor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match5 Jun 2027
Nobody wants to play Kokand 1912 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Javohir Sidiqov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match5 Jun 2027
Mashal made Kokand 1912 work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Jun 2027
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad31 May 2027
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market31 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A brace, and Javohir Sidiqov takes the afternoon — 8.42
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Javohir Sidiqov provided it, and the 8.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad31 May 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match29 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javohir Sidiqov. 2‑0 against Shortan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout31 May 2027
Something was said to Alisher Salimov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout31 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Ulugbek Ganiev could afford to be generous.
The dugout31 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 May 2027
Obod will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Kokand 1912 were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad24 May 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings24 May 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.89, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad24 May 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 May 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ulugbek Ganiev kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Chances created: 11. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
The dugout24 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout17 May 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.
Match15 May 2027
Navbahor left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andro Giorgadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 May 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ulugbek Ganiev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout17 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market17 May 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Azamat Soyibov has his answer from Kokand 1912; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andro Giorgadze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings10 May 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.84, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match8 May 2027
Bukhara left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 May 2027
G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andro Giorgadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 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.
The dugout10 May 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout10 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout10 May 2027
Milan Đoković knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Milan Đoković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout3 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ulugbek Ganiev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shohrux Mahmudhojiyev, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead3 May 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Toma Tabatadze’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Kokand 1912 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Javohir Sidiqov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The dugout3 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.26, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match24 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Toma Tabatadze. 3‑1 against Qizilqum, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Apr 2027
G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout26 Apr 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kokand 1912 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Kokand 1912's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kokand 1912 has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Apr 2027
2‑3 to Pakhtakor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.44, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andro Giorgadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andro Giorgadze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Apr 2027
Jasur Yoqubov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.90, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match10 Apr 2027
Lokomotiv left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Alisher Salimov
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Kokand 1912 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iqboljon Malikjonov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Marked 7.39 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Kokand 1912
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The dugout
When it matters, Toma Tabatadze plays
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match31 Mar 2027
Neftchi ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Javohir Sidiqov 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 ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes of Sylvanus Nimely at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kokand 1912.
Match3 Apr 2027
A point taken on 85 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout5 Apr 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Match3 Apr 2027
It needed Sylvanus Nimely to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against AGMK, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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 ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match27 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sylvanus Nimely. 2‑0 against Bunyodkor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Sylvanus Nimely at his very best
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kokand 1912.
Squad29 Mar 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ulugbek Ganiev on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Milan Đoković: 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.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Neftchi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
“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 Kokand 1912, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Zafar Hakimov
“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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Sylvanus Nimely has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 63 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match13 Mar 2027
Sogdiana left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Mar 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Kokand 1912 needed to.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Yehor Kondratiuk is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Toma Tabatadze’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Kokand 1912 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Toma Tabatadze and Kokand 1912 agree another 2 years.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Mar 2027
Javohir Sidiqov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Nasaf, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdulla Masharipov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jaloliddin Komilov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Islom Komilov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market1 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Azamat Soyibov, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nasaf in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Asilbek Qayumov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
They sit in position 7 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 88 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Nasaf to sit and watch. I want to come back to Kokand 1912 and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout22 Feb 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shohruh Gadoyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Sidiqov signs something — a contract at Kokand 1912 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Feb 2027
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kokand 1912 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kokand 1912, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market8 Feb 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Bunyodkor moved on, Shaxzod Beshimov reports back to Kokand 1912, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Kokand 1912 asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Javohir Husanov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout8 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 109 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad1 Feb 2027
20 days out for Shota Gvazava after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kokand 1912 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Kokand 1912 close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan move for Conrado Ibarra is in the works
Kokand 1912 have made the call to Colón. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Muhammadanas Hasanov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
28 days out for Shota Gvazava after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kokand 1912 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Shaxzod Beshimov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kokand 1912 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Yenisey have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Sylvanus Nimely was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 36 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Kokand 1912 asked and Neftchi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jan 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Javohir Husanov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sylvanus Nimely is on it.
Market18 Jan 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Asliddin Toshtemirov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kokand 1912, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Milan Đoković has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Kokand 1912 know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
131 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kokand 1912 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market11 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Pakhtakor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The deal with All Boys is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Market11 Jan 2027
The chase for Asilbek Qayumov ended with $210.0K changing hands and Bukhara out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Javohir Sidiqov 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Nasaf have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Shahzod Akramov. The answer from Kokand 1912 has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Jan 2027
Alisher Salimov damages knee ligaments — 56 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Jan 2027
Shota Gvazava hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 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 Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Kokand 1912 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andro Giorgadze, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Milan Đoković is in the works
Kokand 1912 have made the call to Cukaricki. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to All Boys: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alisher Salimov
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Shota Gvazava breaks a bone — 57 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kokand 1912 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 133% of the Kokand 1912 income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Shohruh Gadoyev
“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
Upbeat
Squad21 Dec 2026
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 64 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Sylvanus Nimely has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Shohruh Gadoyev 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
Squad14 Dec 2026
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Sylvanus Nimely and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Farhod Masharipov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Toma Tabatadze is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Alisher Salimov damages knee ligaments — 86 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 86 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Dec 2026
79 days out for Shota Gvazava after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kokand 1912 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mirko Bonfigli was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shaxzod Beshimov, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Toma Tabatadze knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kokand 1912, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Alisher Salimov damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 87 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Market30 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kokand 1912 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Mirko Bonfigli and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 152% of the Kokand 1912 income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 21 days on the sidelines for Jasur Shomurodov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Shaxzod Beshimov 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.
Market30 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Sidiqov signs something — a contract at Kokand 1912 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Shota Gvazava breaks a bone — 95 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andro Giorgadze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sylvanus Nimely is on it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kokand 1912. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Shota Gvazava breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Javohir Sidiqov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Javohir Husanov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Toma Tabatadze is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alisher Salimov
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Shota Gvazava out for 109 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kokand 1912 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Mirko Bonfigli: 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.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kokand 1912 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sherzod Fayzullaev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sardor Akhmedov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Muhammadanas Hasanov is on it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kokand 1912 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kokand 1912 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market2 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kokand 1912 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 152% of the Kokand 1912 income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Azamat Soyibov, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Sidiqov signs something — a contract at Kokand 1912 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Farhodjon Sohibjonov is on it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alisher Salimov
130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kokand 1912 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Azamat Soyibov: 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.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kokand 1912. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Toma Tabatadze plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Alisher Salimov damages knee ligaments — 137 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 137 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iqboljon Malikjonov, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Toma Tabatadze has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shaxzod Beshimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Javohir Sidiqov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kokand 1912 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market12 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kokand 1912 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mirko Bonfigli 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timur Suyunov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Akmal Tukhtasinov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Shaxzod Beshimov 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Kokand 1912 would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kokand 1912 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhriddin Fazliddinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kokand 1912 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 226% of the Kokand 1912 income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Kokand 1912
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market5 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Sidiqov signs something — a contract at Kokand 1912 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Farhodjon Sohibjonov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Sep 2026
4 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.30 — 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kokand 1912 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match19 Sep 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Kokand 1912 have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Javohir Sidiqov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
Three points for Kokand 1912, 1‑0 the final word against Mashal in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.02 — 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Andro Giorgadze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ulugbek Ganiev could afford to be generous.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Toma Tabatadze has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kokand 1912 will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.98, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad14 Sep 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market14 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Shohrux Mahmudhojiyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kokand 1912 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Kokand 1912 and Shortan in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 4‑2, and it was Toma Tabatadze’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kokand 1912.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.96, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timur Komilov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Farhod Tukhtasinov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Sep 2026
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.40, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Toma Tabatadze, 34, rolls back the years — 7.92
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kokand 1912, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhriddin Fazliddinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kokand 1912 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Kokand 1912 close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kokand 1912 have done the hard part with Maipú, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Sep 2026
G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov 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
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑5 to Navbahor, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match26 Aug 2026
0‑8 against Pakhtakor, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
A cup hiding at Pakhtakor leaves Kokand 1912 explaining themselves
0-8, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 6 of the 29 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Kokand 1912 and Pakhtakor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match29 Aug 2026
Kokand 1912 are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
A 3‑2 win over Lokomotiv, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Toma Tabatadze takes the afternoon — 9.53
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Toma Tabatadze provided it, and the 9.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kokand 1912 can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
Bukhara left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Kokand 1912 asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
G'ulom Haydar G'ulomov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.63 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Neftchi, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
O'ktamjon Abdumalikov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.86
A mark of 7.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market17 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Shohrux Mahmudhojiyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kokand 1912 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AEK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kokand 1912 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. O'ktamjon Abdumalikov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhriddin Fazliddinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kokand 1912 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Besiktas keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Amir Nematov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jasur Shomurodov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Shohruh Mirzaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match8 Aug 2026
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Kokand 1912 had all but put away. Qizilqum will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
1‑4 to Pakhtakor, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market3 Aug 2026
Metallurg come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Kokand 1912 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Toma Tabatadze and Kokand 1912 agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Javohir Sidiqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Kokand 1912 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑4 Ulugbek Ganiev left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Kokand 1912 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.