From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarbek Eshmurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Feb 2027
7 new faces, and Nasaf are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alibek Davronov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nasaf lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market8 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nasaf people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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 targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Celje have kept their man, and Nasaf go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market8 Feb 2027
One of our own: Odil Nematov joins the Nasaf first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Odil Nematov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Nasaf
Mohir Komilov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Nobody at Nasaf 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
The name of Oybek Rustamov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad8 Feb 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 Nasaf would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Nasaf until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Nasaf go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Bobur Shomurodov again, and this time the name on the line is Metallurg. Nasaf are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akromjon Komilov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Zenit: 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
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 Bobur Abdiholiqov is on it.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Bobur Abdiholiqov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nasaf lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Jan 2027
The fee is $54.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Andijon drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo 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 targets25 Jan 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Illia Olkhovyi is in the works
Nasaf have made the call to Dynamo Kyiv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to NK Celje: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Asilbek Qayumov and Nasaf agree another 3 years.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Murodbek Rahmatov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nasaf lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
$54.0K settles it between the clubs for Mohir Komilov
Andijon have accepted the money. What Nasaf do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market18 Jan 2027
Qizilqum come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Nasaf did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market18 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done: Asilbek Qayumov joins from Bukhara in a deal worth $210.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Nasaf asked and Noah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nasaf 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Doniyor Komilov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akromjon Komilov 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Nasaf have made the call to Lokomotiv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Basaksehir 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Nobody at Nasaf 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Nasaf will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Umarbek Eshmurodov keeps the shirt for now, at Nasaf's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Alibek Davronov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Alibek Davronov
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diyor Abdunazarov and Nasaf agree another 3 years.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
$900.4K on the table at Nasaf
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Bobur Abdiholiqov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nasaf 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Alibek Davronov has moved up it.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Bobur Abdiholiqov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Open for business: Nasaf enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo 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
Market21 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Alizod To'xtayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nasaf know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Questions about Davronbek Usmonov on the training pitch
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sherzod Mirzaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Dec 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Odil Tukhtasinov 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Dilshod Murtazoyev 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
Nobody at Nasaf 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Oybek Rustamov 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 Nasaf, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Dec 2026
The name of Oybek Rustamov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nasaf they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarbek Eshmurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Muhammadjon Valiyev and Nasaf agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Javohir Ubaydullayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Samandar Muratboyev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Bobur Abdiholiqov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nasaf 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
Market30 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammadjon Valiyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarbek Eshmurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo 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 dugout30 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Murodbek Rahmatov is on it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Nasaf will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Samandar Muratboyev 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oybek Rustamov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Samandar Muratboyev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Umarbek Eshmurodov 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Alibek Davronov
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
International break empties Nasaf
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and G'olib G'aybullayev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nobody at Nasaf 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
Market9 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nasaf they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Umarbek Eshmurodov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sherzod Fayzullaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akromjon Komilov 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Nasaf game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metallurg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bobur Abdiholiqov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammadjon Valiyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amir Tukhtasinov and Nasaf agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Alizod To'xtayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samandar Muratboyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Murodbek Rahmatov is on it.
The dugout2 Nov 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 Oybek Rustamov has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 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 Nasaf, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Umarbek Eshmurodov 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 dugout26 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Nobody at Nasaf 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nasaf know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muhammadjon Valiyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Javohir Ubaydullayev 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Amir Tukhtasinov 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Nasaf will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market19 Oct 2026
The name of Oybek Rustamov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. G'olib G'aybullayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarbek Eshmurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Yusuf Otubanjo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Metallurg to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nasaf and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Bobur Abdiholiqov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nasaf 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Nasaf could get for him.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Bobur Abdiholiqov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nasaf say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Oct 2026
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Nasaf lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bobur Abdiholiqov joins up with his country. Nasaf lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nasaf is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Umarbek Eshmurodov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Samandar Muratboyev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Samandar Muratboyev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Nasaf have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Nasaf. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Nasaf will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market5 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Davronbek Usmonov signs something — a contract at Nasaf or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Yusuf Otubanjo yet — 8.07
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Samandar Muratboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Lokomotiv, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Stefan Čolović did the work nobody counts — 7.03
9 combined actions and 7.03. 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Timur Akhmedov could afford to be generous.
The dugout28 Sep 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 Nasaf, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Nobody at Nasaf 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
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Bobur Abdiholiqov takes the afternoon — 9.05
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bobur Abdiholiqov provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Umarbek Eshmurodov 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 targets21 Sep 2026
$93.0K was the most the club would pay and Mashal were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nasaf rescue it on 89 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. AGMK had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match19 Sep 2026
Honours even between Nasaf and AGMK
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and G'olib G'aybullayev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.” Timur Akhmedov chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov is on it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Nobody at Nasaf 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
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 47. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. G'olib G'aybullayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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 left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 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 0‑2 Timur Akhmedov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout14 Sep 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 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oybek Rustamov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Nasaf needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Sep 2026
Nasaf taken apart
0‑7 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Nasaf close the window on a squad of their own making
12 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
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nasaf is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Samandar Toirov to Metallurg has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Nasaf with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Match5 Sep 2026
The run is over for Nasaf
8 matches without defeat, and then Neftchi. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The offer went to Mashal this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 goals as Nasaf and Neftchi go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Nasaf and Neftchi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
Nasaf sell their best player to Rubin
$3.0M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Match26 Aug 2026
Nasaf bow out of the cup
Bunyodkor go through and Nasaf go home, 2‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.86, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nasaf people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Davronbek Usmonov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $3.0M sale of Abduvohid Ne'matov
He is going to Rubin, the club has $3.0M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Match29 Aug 2026
8 unbeaten for Nasaf
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Nasaf did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Aug 2026
Nasaf through in the cup
A 3‑1 win over Kokand 1912, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Sardorbek Bahromov takes the afternoon — 8.53
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sardorbek Bahromov provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Yusuf Otubanjo, 33, rolls back the years — 8.09
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.09 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Rubin have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abduvohid Ne'matov. The answer from Nasaf has not changed — yet.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.97. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Nasaf offered $34.0K; Mashal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Match22 Aug 2026
Still nobody has beaten Nasaf
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 Aug 2026
Nasaf through in the cup
A 4‑2 win over Metallurg, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nasaf is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.01 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match15 Aug 2026
Nasaf make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Nasaf have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Abduvohid Ne'matov 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Nasaf and Metallurg, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match8 Aug 2026
No mercy from Nasaf
Mashal will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nasaf were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Yusuf Otubanjo, 33, rolls back the years — 8.22
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.22 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammadjon Valiyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Abduvohid Ne'matov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$62.0K on the table at Navbahor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aktobe have kept their man, and Nasaf go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oybek Rustamov and Nasaf agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.21, and nobody on the pitch better.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Nasaf asked and Orenburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bobur Abdiholiqov commits to Nasaf for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Abduvohid Ne'matov 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 Aug 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarbek Eshmurodov 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 terraces3 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Nasaf get the job done against Shortan
A 2‑0 win over Shortan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.