From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Aug 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A move Murodjon Komilov would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Murodjon Komilov is living that version at Mashal, and it tends to show in the first month.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
No sign of nerves from Sayfiddin Sodikov at 19 — 8.49
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sayfiddin Sodikov did not need any: 8.49, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Vlatko Stojanovski’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mashal.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Sayfiddin Sodikov 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 ratings23 Aug 2027
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
Market23 Aug 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev has his answer from Mashal; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match14 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Mashal
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad16 Aug 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
The crowd has taken to Sabo Gambo
At 23 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.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Sabo Gambo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.83. 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vlatko Stojanovski, and the manager let it.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Aug 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Javohir Abdualimov has his answer from Mashal; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
Sabo Gambo 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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Humoyun Murtozaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Mashal
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mashal can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 7.86 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Mashal had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
Zafarbek Akramov: 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.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Aug 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adel Al-Mutairi commits to Mashal for another 4 years.
Market2 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Mashal will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.70 on the card, and the Mashal support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
13 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
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad26 Jul 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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 Jul 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Match24 Jul 2027
0‑2 to Pakhtakor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Jul 2027
Obod come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mashal did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad19 Jul 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
A performance of 9.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match17 Jul 2027
Three points for Mashal, 2‑1 the final word against Shortan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Jul 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
4 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
85% of the income goes out in wages at Mashal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
Mashal sell their best player to Obod
$360.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Mashal sell a favourite for $360.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Anvar Murodov was one of the reasons people came, and $360.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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 ratings12 Jul 2027
22 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Jul 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The Mashal board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad5 Jul 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vlatko Stojanovski, and the manager let it.
Match3 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Mashal 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.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Nobody could get near Sabo Gambo
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
Anvar Murodov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mashal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Mashal supporters have found a favourite in Sabo Gambo
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sabo Gambo 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 ratings28 Jun 2027
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market28 Jun 2027
Obod are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mashal will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match26 Jun 2027
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Sabo Gambo had Mashal level again within 1 minutes, and Bukhara never got to play with a lead at all.
Match26 Jun 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Jun 2027
A bad afternoon for Mashal against Andijon
0‑1 to Andijon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sherzod Fayziyev, and the manager let it.
Squad21 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
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.66, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market14 Jun 2027
Andijon come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mashal did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Three points for Mashal, 2‑0 the final word against Qizilqum in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market14 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Mashal will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotiv for Shohnazar Norbekov 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.
Market7 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 Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Shohnazar Norbekov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.91. 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.
Match5 Jun 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Shohnazar Norbekov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mashal.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 May 2027
The wait goes on for Mashal
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad31 May 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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 ratings31 May 2027
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces31 May 2027
Mashal supporters have found a favourite in Sabo Gambo
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sabo Gambo 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 ratings31 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Humoyun Murtozaev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 ratings24 May 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.68 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad24 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad24 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 May 2027
A bad afternoon for Mashal against AGMK
2‑3 to AGMK, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 May 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 May 2027
Shaxboz Jurayev: 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.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Squad17 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
0‑1 to Bunyodkor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 95% of everything Mashal earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 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.
Squad10 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match8 May 2027
A bad afternoon for Mashal against Neftchi
1‑2 to Neftchi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Marked 8.86. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
Squad10 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
One of those days for Sabo Gambo
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 May 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 Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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 ratings3 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Sabo Gambo at his very best
Marked 9.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
Match1 May 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Vlatko Stojanovski’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mashal.
The terraces3 May 2027
Mashal supporters have found a favourite in Sabo Gambo
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sabo Gambo 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 ratings3 May 2027
A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad3 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Nobody at Mashal 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
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Squad26 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Apr 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 7.59. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match24 Apr 2027
Mashal and Nasaf cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Nasaf came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market26 Apr 2027
The name of Muhammadali Aliqulov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mashal say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Samandar Ochilov: 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.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Apr 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match17 Apr 2027
0‑1 to Metallurg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages eat 92% of everything Mashal 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A mark of 5.37 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.68, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Match31 Mar 2027
Mashal out of the cup
Navbahor ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad5 Apr 2027
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Market5 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The Mashal board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad5 Apr 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
At 23 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Marked 8.63 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 44 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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 ratings29 Mar 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.07. 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Obod made Mashal work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad29 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
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match20 Mar 2027
Navbahor left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad22 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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Sabo Gambo runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
93% of the income goes out in wages at Mashal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
5.79 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 58 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
Market15 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 Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 27, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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 ratings15 Mar 2027
Shohnazar Norbekov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.75. 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Bukhara, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 65 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Shohnazar Norbekov and Mashal agree another 2 years.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Graduation day at Mashal
5 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
21 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Marked 9.06 — 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 terraces8 Mar 2027
The crowd has taken to Sabo Gambo
At 23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mashal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Feb 2027
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
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Market
The Ergash Ismoilov talk will not go away
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Market
The window shut and Anvar Murodov is still in the building
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 95 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Squad8 Feb 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Feb 2027
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Jan 2027
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad25 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Davronbek Rahmonov damages knee ligaments — 118 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 118 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 Jan 2027
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Mashal sell a favourite for $200.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mahmud Jo'raboyev was one of the reasons people came, and $200.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Adel Al-Mutairi gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Adel Al-Mutairi has just signed for Mashal, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Sardor Abduraimov damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Samandar Ochilov: 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.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mashal have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Sardor Abduraimov damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mashal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Dec 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Sardor Abduraimov damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mashal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mashal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mashal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mashal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Sherzod Fayziyev: 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.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Farruh Toshpo'latov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mashal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Farruh Toshpo'latov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mashal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mashal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 849% of everything Mashal earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mashal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Farruh Toshpo'latov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shohnazar Norbekov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.75. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.55. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Sep 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nobody at Mashal 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
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Sabo Gambo
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Muhammadali Aliqulov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.56 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vlatko Stojanovski. 1‑0 against Kokand 1912, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anvar Murodov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mashal they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Mashal?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Lokomotiv? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
Add another name to the list: Metallurg have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Humoyun Murtozaev. The answer from Mashal has not changed — yet.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdallah Maga has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market7 Sep 2026
The Obod deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mahmud Jo'raboyev reports back to Mashal with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad7 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Shohnazar Norbekov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Sep 2026
Mashal come up short against AGMK
AGMK left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
633% of the income goes out in wages at Mashal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Farruh Toshpo'latov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Suhrobjon Parmonqulov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 3‑2, and it was Islom Sharipov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mashal.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Metallurg for Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Anvar Murodov 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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Mashal sell a favourite for $89.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Asadbek Samariddinov was one of the reasons people came, and $89.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mashal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vohidjon Oqbo'tayev has agreed terms with Sogdiana for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad24 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
Asadbek Samariddinov has left for Neftchi in a $89.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sardor Abduraimov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
Mashal out of the cup
Lokomotiv ended it 0‑0. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Mashal sell a favourite for $92.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Roman Khadjiev was one of the reasons people came, and $92.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Anvar Murodov has come up in conversations Mashal were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market17 Aug 2026
Andijon paid $92.0K and Mashal took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shohnazar Norbekov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shohnazar Norbekov 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Humoyun Murtozaev, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Sardor Abduraimov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mashal has been clear about where Islom Rashidxonov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match8 Aug 2026
Mashal share the spoils with Nasaf
A 1‑1 draw with Nasaf leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market10 Aug 2026
Mashal have let the market know Humoyun Murtozaev can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Raphael Ayagwa commits to Mashal for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sardor Abduraimov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.