From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for Mashal
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The deal with Lokomotiv 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Islombek Mamatkazin 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.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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 ratings3 Jul 2028
Marked 7.77. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Nasaf: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
5 new boys at the Mashal academy
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Jun 2028
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Market26 Jun 2028
“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.
Market26 Jun 2028
The name of Humoyun Murtozaev has come up in conversations Mashal were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
A promise honoured at Mashal
Something was said to Sherzod Fayziyev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Islombek Baratov has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jun 2028
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Jun 2028
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Sogdiana for Ibrohim G'anixonov 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sherzod Fayziyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Jun 2028
A bad afternoon for Mashal against Qizilqum
1‑2 to Qizilqum, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.80, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Match19 Jun 2028
The half-term report on Mashal
Position 14, 9 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.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Sherzod Mirzaev to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Mashal
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market12 Jun 2028
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Qizilqum 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.
Match10 Jun 2028
No end in sight to Mashal's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mashal has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lokomotiv is saying, and nobody at Mashal is enjoying the guessing.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Everybody at Mashal saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Islombek Mamatkazin 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vohidjon Oqbo'tayev commits to Mashal for another 3 years.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Marked 7.63 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
Crisis
Match3 Jun 2028
The wait goes on for Mashal
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The deal with Lokomotiv 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market5 Jun 2028
The phone has started ringing about Ibrohim G'anixonov again, and this time the name on the line is Sogdiana. Mashal are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Mashal asked and Bunyodkor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings29 May 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.14, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match27 May 2028
The wait goes on for Mashal
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Match27 May 2028
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.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nuriddin Nuriddinov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 May 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout29 May 2028
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 2‑3 Sherzod Mirzaev left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 May 2028
4 matches without a win for Mashal
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mashal are no longer polite ones.
Match20 May 2028
4 matches without a goal for Mashal
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad22 May 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 May 2028
Bunyodkor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 May 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 May 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sherzod Mirzaev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 May 2028
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 dugout22 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 May 2028
Nowhere to hide for Mashal
0‑3 against Neftchi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match15 May 2028
Mashal are in real trouble now
Position 14, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match13 May 2028
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.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Islom Sharipov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dostonbek To'xtaboyev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom15 May 2028
Doors closed at Mashal
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout15 May 2028
A promise honoured at Mashal
Something was said to Humoyun Murtozaev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout15 May 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout8 May 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
Sherzod Fayziyev 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 dugout8 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad8 May 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Mashal will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout8 May 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout8 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match6 May 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sogdiana defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 May 2028
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.
Squad1 May 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Islombek Mamatkazin 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 dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muminhon Bahodirxonov, and the manager let it.
Match29 Apr 2028
Mashal come up short against Nasaf
Nasaf left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
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.
The dugout1 May 2028
Sherzod Fayziyev dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout1 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Humoyun Murtozaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Apr 2028
The drought breaks for Mashal
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Metallurg were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad24 Apr 2028
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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Apr 2028
A 2‑0 win over Metallurg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad24 Apr 2028
200 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A mark of 7.76, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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.” Sherzod Mirzaev kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Mashal
7 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match15 Apr 2028
Mashal cannot find the net
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 Apr 2028
0‑1 to Pakhtakor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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 Vlatko Stojanovski is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Apr 2028
Mashal out of the cup
Bunyodkor ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Match8 Apr 2028
6 matches without a win for Mashal
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Mashal are no longer polite ones.
Match8 Apr 2028
The goals have deserted Mashal
4 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Islombek Mamatkazin 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Shortan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Apr 2028
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Apr 2028
13 unbeaten for Mashal
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Mashal did not have in the autumn.
Match1 Apr 2028
4 matches without a win for Mashal
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mashal are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Islombek Mamatkazin 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mashal has been clear about where Ibrohim G'anixonov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Samandar Ochilov has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Humoyun Murtozaev
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sherzod Mirzaev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Mashal dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Sherzod Fayziyev 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Obod next, and one man in the Mashal dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market27 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Humoyun Murtozaev has written the date down.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Mashal will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match18 Mar 2028
Whatever happens, Mashal do not lose
12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Everybody at Mashal saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Marked 7.46 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Mashal had the best player on the pitch.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Mashal are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Mar 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match11 Mar 2028
Still nobody has beaten Mashal
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Islombek Mamatkazin 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mashal has been clear about where Humoyun Murtozaev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match11 Mar 2028
Mashal caught on 90 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bukhara scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Match11 Mar 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Bukhara leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Mar 2028
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match4 Mar 2028
Still nobody has beaten Mashal
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market6 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Muhammadali Aliqulov and Mashal agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Mashal
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market6 Mar 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Shohruh Ahmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Mar 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sardor Ismailov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Islombek Mamatkazin 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 dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Islombek Baratov is on it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samandar Ochilov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market28 Feb 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nuriddin Nuriddinov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Muminhon Bahodirxonov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
In brief
-
Boardroom
The Mashal academy earns its keep
-
Match
Nothing left to play for but pride at Mashal
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Feb 2028
7 new faces, and Mashal 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Akmal Mirzaev commits to Mashal for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
Sherzod Fayziyev 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.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Farrux Jo'rayev and Mashal agree another 2 years.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad14 Feb 2028
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Mashal are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Window shuts: 5 in, 3 out at Mashal
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Feb 2028
36 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Qizilqum keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Muhammadjon Valiyev has, at Mashal, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islombek Mamatkazin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Belts tighten at Mashal
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Market7 Feb 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Nodirxon Xabibullayev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mashal.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Mashal asked and Sogdiana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Mashal have made the call to Bunyodkor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
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 Islombek Baratov is on it.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market31 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Suhrobjon Parmonqulov signs something — a contract at Mashal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 targets24 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Qizilqum have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Bunyodkor: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Too much change too quickly at Mashal
5 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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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 Vlatko Stojanovski is on it.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sherzod Fayziyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mashal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market17 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Mashal asked and Bunyodkor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Chevankov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Shortan have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Bunyodkor have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mashal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 65 days on the sidelines for Ergash Ismoilov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The deal with Navbahor 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Qizilqum is saying, and nobody at Mashal is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Mashal 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
Market3 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jan 2028
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotiv for Izzatullo Abdulhaqov 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sherzod Fayziyev 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 targets3 Jan 2028
Mashal asked and Sogdiana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market3 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Shortan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Suhrobjon Parmonqulov. The answer from Mashal has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Spartak Gevorgyan and Mashal agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
36 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Izzatullo Abdulhaqov 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Wages swallow 99% of the Mashal 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 dugout27 Dec 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 dugout27 Dec 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
Squad20 Dec 2027
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mashal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nuriddin Nuriddinov, and the manager let it.
Market20 Dec 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vlatko Stojanovski’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout20 Dec 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
Market13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Izzatullo Abdulhaqov commits to Mashal for another 3 years.
Squad13 Dec 2027
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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad13 Dec 2027
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Izzatullo Abdulhaqov 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vohidjon Oqbo'tayev and Mashal agree another 3 years.
Market6 Dec 2027
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Mashal were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Islombek Baratov has become a man the manager trusts
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
Squad29 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 122% 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.
The dugout29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Mashal are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout29 Nov 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 Vlatko Stojanovski is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sherzod Fayziyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samandar Ochilov, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Murod Ermatov and Mashal agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout22 Nov 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
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The medical room confirms 44 days on the sidelines for Ulugbek Tukhtasinov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Izzatullo Abdulhaqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Nov 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
The dugout8 Nov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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 Nov 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vlatko Stojanovski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Farruh Toshpo'latov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mashal.
The dugout8 Nov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Individual work, away from the group, aimed at one specific thing the coaches think is holding him back. It rarely makes the news and it is how most improvement actually happens.
Match8 Nov 2027
Mid-table, and Mashal know it
Position 8 on 41 points, with the season drifting toward the summer. It is the safest place in football and the hardest one to sell a season ticket from.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages swallow 103% of the Mashal 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 dugout1 Nov 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout1 Nov 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Elnurbek Saitmurodov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mashal.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zafarbek Akramov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nodirxon Xabibullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market25 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vlatko Stojanovski’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout25 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 Vohidjon Oqbo'tayev is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Oct 2027
Mashal finish in position 8
41 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.04 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match16 Oct 2027
9 unbeaten for Mashal
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Mashal did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
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.
Match16 Oct 2027
A 3‑1 win over Qizilqum, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 terraces18 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Asilbek Jumayev 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
At last: Mashal win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Qizilqum. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Mashal told Humoyun Murtozaev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Islombek Baratov has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Qizilqum next, and one man in the Mashal dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Mashal will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Mashal would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Next up at home: Qizilqum, who go into it in position 13. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Oct 2027
5 matches without a win for Mashal
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Mashal are no longer polite ones.
Match2 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, Mashal do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Oct 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.
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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
117% 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Kokand 1912 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Mashal counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Mashal now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Sep 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Mashal do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Mashal told Vlatko Stojanovski something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Nikita Shevchenko
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout27 Sep 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
Steady
Match18 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Mashal
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout20 Sep 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 ratings20 Sep 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Mashal support went home talking about one name.
Match18 Sep 2027
It needed Asilbek Jumayev 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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Sherzod Mirzaev chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market13 Sep 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Humoyun Murtozaev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mashal.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Vlatko Stojanovski was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
It needed Nuriddin Nuriddinov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 4‑4 against Bunyodkor, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Match11 Sep 2027
Mashal caught on 89 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bunyodkor scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Islombek Baratov has become a man the manager trusts
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
Market6 Sep 2027
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotiv 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 11 in, 17 out at Mashal
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 17 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A move Spartak Gevorgyan 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. Spartak Gevorgyan is living that version at Mashal, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad6 Sep 2027
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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
92% 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
Nikita Chevankov is 20, and Mashal have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market6 Sep 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hamlet Akulyan and Mashal agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Aug 2027
The name of Humoyun Murtozaev has come up in conversations Mashal were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad30 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.
Squad30 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.
Transfer targets30 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 terraces30 Aug 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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout30 Aug 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match28 Aug 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Neftchi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 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.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A brace, and Vlatko Stojanovski takes the afternoon — 8.59
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vlatko Stojanovski provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad23 Aug 2027
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.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
14 combined actions and 7.27. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Match21 Aug 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Vlatko Stojanovski’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mashal.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Mashal told Nikita Shevchenko something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Aug 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muhammadali Aliqulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.72 on the card, and the Mashal support went home talking about one name.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
A promise honoured at Mashal
Something was said to Samandar Ochilov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. 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
Somebody else is better right now than Humoyun Murtozaev
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Match14 Aug 2027
Honours even between Mashal and Nasaf
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout16 Aug 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 Islombek Baratov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotiv 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Sardor Abduraimov for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Mashal will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sherzod Fayziyev and Mashal agree another 2 years.
Squad9 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muhammadali Aliqulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Aug 2027
A 2‑1 win over Metallurg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout9 Aug 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 ratings9 Aug 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.69 on the card, and the Mashal support went home talking about one name.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Pakhtakor is saying, and nobody at Mashal is enjoying the guessing.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sherzod Fayziyev and Mashal agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Vlatko Stojanovski 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 targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bukhara have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch2 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Nasaf to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mashal and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 28 matches say the rest.
Match31 Jul 2027
Pakhtakor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Aug 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
Upbeat
Match24 Jul 2027
3‑0, and Asilbek Jumayev took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Mashal tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market26 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.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 targets26 Jul 2027
Mashal asked and Pakhtakor 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 ratings26 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Wages swallow 98% of the Mashal 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
14 combined actions and 6.94. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bunyodkor have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Asilbek Jumayev 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Mashal get the job done against Obod
A 2‑0 win over Obod, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
7.99, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Match10 Jul 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match10 Jul 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout12 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sherzod Mirzaev after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 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 Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Mashal
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
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
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Mashal asked and Bukhara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vlatko Stojanovski and Mashal agree another 3 years.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Intake day at the Mashal academy
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Player ratings
Asilbek Jumayev beats them one at a time
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Shaxboz Jurayev pops up at the right end — 7.12
7.12, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Match26 Jun 2027
7 unbeaten for Mashal
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Mashal did not have in the autumn.
Match26 Jun 2027
Three points for Mashal, 3‑1 the final word against Andijon in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad28 Jun 2027
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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pakhtakor have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Jun 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dostonbek To'xtaboyev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Nikita Shevchenko: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match16 Jun 2027
The small margins put Mashal out
Out, 2‑2 to Navbahor, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market21 Jun 2027
Lokomotiv 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.
Market21 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Jun 2027
6 unbeaten for Mashal
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Mashal did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Mashal asked and Bunyodkor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Jun 2027
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Sogdiana 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mashal have done the hard part with Pakhtakor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad14 Jun 2027
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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Mashal asked and Pakhtakor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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 dugout14 Jun 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.
Squad14 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
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
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
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Match5 Jun 2027
Three points for Mashal, 3‑1 the final word against Lokomotiv in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad7 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasaf have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
“I did not go to Nasaf to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mashal and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 20 matches say the rest.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Asilbek Jumayev 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.
Match5 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout31 May 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.
Match29 May 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.
Match29 May 2027
Mashal cannot find the net
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad31 May 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Wages eat 93% 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout31 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Humoyun Murtozaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 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.
Match22 May 2027
The goals have deserted Mashal
4 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Asilbek Jumayev 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.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
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
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout24 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match22 May 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Bunyodkor will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
0‑4 to Neftchi, 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.
Market17 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.
Match17 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Mashal
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Match15 May 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Nobody left the Mashal 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.
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 0‑4 Sherzod Mirzaev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sherzod Fayziyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.03, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad10 May 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Mashal will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout10 May 2027
Islombek Baratov has become a man the manager trusts
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.
The dugout10 May 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sherzod Mirzaev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Asilbek Jumayev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 May 2027
A bad afternoon for Mashal against Nasaf
0‑2 to Nasaf, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout3 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.
Squad3 May 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Dostonbek To'xtaboyev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout3 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 0‑2 Sherzod Mirzaev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout3 May 2027
Samandar Ochilov 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
86% 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Vlatko Stojanovski takes the afternoon — 8.37
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vlatko Stojanovski provided it, and the 8.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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
Samandar Ochilov 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Metallurg made Mashal work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout26 Apr 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sherzod Mirzaev on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Samandar Ochilov 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Nobody at Mashal is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 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 1‑3 Sherzod Mirzaev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Apr 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 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 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.
Loan watch12 Apr 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 Mashal, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Mashal will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market12 Apr 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Shohnazar Norbekov has his answer from Mashal; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Islombek Baratov has become a man the manager trusts
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
Upbeat
Match31 Mar 2027
Mashal through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Bunyodkor, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
The dugout5 Apr 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 ratings5 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.97, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Mashal told to sell
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 terraces5 Apr 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match3 Apr 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Shohnazar Norbekov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mashal.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Asilbek Jumayev 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
Izzatullo Abdulhaqov 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Shevchenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 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 dugout29 Mar 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
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
A hiding for Mashal
Beaten 0‑3 by Navbahor, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad22 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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 dugout22 Mar 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Mashal 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A bad afternoon for Mashal against Bukhara
0‑2 to Bukhara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dostonbek To'xtaboyev, and the manager let it.
Loan watch15 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 Mashal, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sherzod Mirzaev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Navbahor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Humoyun Murtozaev and Mashal agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Mashal
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jasur 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timur Tukhtasinov 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timur Akhmedov 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jaloliddin Hasanov 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
A promise the Mashal board did not keep
There was a commitment, there was a date, and the date went past. Trust at a football club takes years to build and one afternoon to spend.
The dugout8 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Mashal than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Khadjiev, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nuriddin Nuriddinov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mashal needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout1 Mar 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
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Izzatullo Abdulhaqov 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.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
“I watch every Mashal game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Shortan runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Suhrobjon Parmonqulov, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Mashal know which stage they are at.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Sardor Abduraimov keeps the shirt for now, at Mashal's convenience rather than his own.
Market15 Feb 2027
Mashal spent the window trying to move Javohir Abdualimov on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pakhtakor have kept their man, and Mashal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Islom Sharipov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zafarbek Akramov, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Mashal know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A new face in his position, and Sardor Abduraimov suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Mashal have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market8 Feb 2027
A season-long audition: Lokomotiv still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Mashal's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
Market8 Feb 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Asilbek Jumayev arrives from Neftchi with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Market8 Feb 2027
The window shut and Nurjahon Muzaffarov is still in the building
Mashal spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Mahmud Jo'raboyev has gone, the accounts have $210.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Window shuts: 0 in, 5 out at Mashal
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Feb 2027
Metallurg paid $210.0K 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ergash Ismoilov 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Mashal asked and Sogdiana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Navbahor: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Lokomotiv: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 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.
Market25 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mahmud Jo'raboyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The deal with Navbahor 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.
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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Asadbek Samariddinov again, and this time the name on the line is Metallurg. Mashal are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Abdulla Fayzullaev damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mashal people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Jan 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.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
Mashal sell a favourite for $230.0K
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 $230.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market18 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Anvar Murodov has left for Metallurg in a $230.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
25 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
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mashal people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market11 Jan 2027
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Andijon for Javohir Abdualimov 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mashal have done the hard part with AGMK, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samandar Ochilov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Neftchi have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Abdulla Fayzullaev damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mashal can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Neftchi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Mahmud Jo'raboyev again, and this time the name on the line is Obod. Mashal are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avazxon Mamatxo'jayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Javohir Abdualimov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mashal.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Lokomotiv have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mashal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 148% 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Mashal. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Zafarbek Akramov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 42 days on the sidelines for Sherzod Fayziyev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Abduraimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov 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 dugout14 Dec 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Izzatullo Abdulhaqov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nuriddin Nuriddinov, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 Dec 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
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samandar Ochilov 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
167% 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.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes Anvar Murodov a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Mashal. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market30 Nov 2026
Mashal have made Asadbek Samariddinov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
71 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Anvar Murodov 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 Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Roman Khadjiev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Khadjiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 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.
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.
The dugout9 Nov 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Anvar Murodov 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 Mashal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mashal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Mashal: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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 eat 167% 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.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I watch every Mashal game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Obod runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Humoyun Murtozaev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mashal, another week without a signature from Roman Khadjiev.
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
Steady
Squad26 Oct 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.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Roman Khadjiev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Muhammadali Aliqulov 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.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Mashal, 1‑0 the final word against Qizilqum in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sherzod Mirzaev on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Mashal squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
Roman Khadjiev 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Sardor Abduraimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samandar Ochilov, and the manager let it.
Market12 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Davronbek Rahmonov has his answer from Mashal; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Mashal
Something was said to Shaxboz Jurayev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sherzod Fayziyev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mashal needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ibrohim G'anixonov has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Oct 2026
Mashal are in real trouble now
Position 14, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
The dugout5 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 231% 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Mashal had all but put away. Kokand 1912 will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
7.23, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Mashal had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Kokand 1912 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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 dugout28 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javohir Abdualimov 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 dugout28 Sep 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 0‑1 Sherzod Mirzaev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout28 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Anvar Murodov has his answer from Mashal; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
A promise honoured at Mashal
Something was said to Anvar Murodov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Kokand 1912 next, and one man in the Mashal dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Murod Ermatov
“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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 13, 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Samandar Ochilov
Nobody at Mashal is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Match19 Sep 2026
Mashal and AGMK cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. AGMK came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Okzhetpes 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 Sep 2026
Roman Khadjiev 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.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Abduraimov 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 Sep 2026
Bunyodkor made Mashal work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mashal.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sherzod Mirzaev on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Mashal 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Mashal say no — this time
The offer from Shortan for Zafarbek Akramov 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.
Squad7 Sep 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.
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
Tempers go at Mashal
Islom Sharipov 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 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Mashal will try again when the window opens; Navbahor may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Bunyodkor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Zafarbek Akramov again, and this time the name on the line is Shortan. Mashal are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match29 Aug 2026
Neftchi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Mashal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Izzatullo Abdulhaqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Izzatullo Abdulhaqov, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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 Sherzod Mirzaev to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.64, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market24 Aug 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.
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Sogdiana made Mashal work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Mashal
Islom Sharipov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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.” Sherzod Mirzaev kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Looking ahead24 Aug 2026
The leaders are next for Mashal
Neftchi top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
Looking ahead24 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Neftchi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Mashal
1‑2 against Lokomotiv, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Roman Khadjiev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Khadjiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Mashal
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mashal are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom17 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.
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 Mashal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samandar Ochilov 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Anvar Murodov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Mashal
Humoyun Murtozaev 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 targets10 Aug 2026
Mashal asked and Lokomotiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdulla Fayzullaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Akmal Shomurodov 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islombek Baratov, and the manager let it.
Match8 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Metallurg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Chances created: 13. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.