From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Stefan Čolović damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Nasaf say no — this time
The offer from Pakhtakor for Alibek Davronov 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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.
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
Nasaf have gone to Bukhara with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Edin Ajdinović 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 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 Abduvohid Ne'matov is on it.
Market1 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov signs something — a contract at Nasaf or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stefan Čolović
114 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.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Market25 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Davronbek Usmonov again, and this time the name on the line is Liepaja. Nasaf are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
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.
The dugout25 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
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
122 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Pakhtakor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alibek Davronov. The answer from Nasaf has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Fakel is saying, and nobody at Nasaf is enjoying the guessing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Nasaf asked and SKA Khabarovsk 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 dugout18 Jan 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov is on it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nasaf, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Stefan Čolović damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.
Squad11 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 Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Nasaf 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rustam Hasanov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sardor Fayzullaev 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mirzo 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shohruh Ahmedov 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edin Ajdinović 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
A loan move for Belajdi Pusi is in the works
Nasaf have made the call to Fakel. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Stefan Čolović damages knee ligaments — 136 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 136 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 Nasaf can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
Nasaf say no — this time
The offer from Pakhtakor for Alibek Davronov 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Nasaf are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AGMK have kept their man, and Nasaf go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 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 targets4 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
143 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.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 116% of everything Nasaf 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
The manager makes an example of Oybek Rustamov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Murodbek Rahmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 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 Nasaf, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Stefan Čolović damages knee ligaments — 150 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 150 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.
Market21 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Dejan Meleg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edin Ajdinović 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov is on it.
Market21 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. G'olib G'aybullayev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes Marko Tomić a promise
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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stefan Čolović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Akromjon Komilov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edin Ajdinović 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Nasaf could ask drops and the wages G'olib G'aybullayev can ask rise.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Davronbek Usmonov 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Marko Tomić has been promised minutes
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 Marko Tomić has written the date down.
Market14 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Joyce Katulondi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abduvohid Ne'matov is on it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Javohir Ubaydullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Edin Ajdinović 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
124% of the income goes out in wages at Nasaf
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Market23 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.
Squad23 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 Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edin Ajdinović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Metallurg to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nasaf and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Zafarmurod Abdurahmatov is on it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes Marko Tomić a promise
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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stefan Čolović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Tomić, and the manager let it.
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Nasaf could ask drops and the wages G'olib G'aybullayev can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Guram Kashia 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Umarbek Eshmurodov, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edin Ajdinović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Abduvohid Ne'matov is on it.
The dugout9 Nov 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Marko Tomić has been promised minutes
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 Marko Tomić has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Akromjon Komilov: 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.” Nasaf have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Guram Kashia 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
124% of the income goes out in wages at Nasaf
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 dugout2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Oybek Rustamov. Nasaf will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Joyce Katulondi 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
Uneasy
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. G'olib G'aybullayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nasaf the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guram Kashia 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alibek Davronov, and the manager let it.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Metallurg to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nasaf and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes Marko Tomić a promise
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Guram Kashia in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Edin Ajdinović 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Oybek Rustamov
“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.
Market19 Oct 2026
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Nasaf money.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Davronbek Usmonov is on it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes Marko Tomić a promise
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Guram Kashia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Nasaf training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edin Ajdinović 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abduvohid Ne'matov is on it.
The dugout12 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Alibek Davronov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guram Kashia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 159% of the Nasaf income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Nasaf who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nasaf are still strangers to each other
9 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 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Guram Kashia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Nasaf
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edin Ajdinović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“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 Nasaf, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The 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
Somebody else is better right now than Oybek Rustamov
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nasaf may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Sardorbek Bahromov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.07
A mark of 8.07 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.94, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Guram Kashia in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
At 21 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nasaf get the job done against AGMK
A 1‑0 win over AGMK, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 Sep 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.” Jasur Fayzullaev kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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
Somebody else is better right now than Sharof Muhiddinov
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Nasaf
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Nasaf are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets14 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Guram Kashia 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Nasaf
Dejan Meleg 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdulla Nematov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Farhod Ismailov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jasur Fayzullaev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 20 in, 6 out at Nasaf
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 20 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Muhammadjon Valiyev has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Nasaf
Guram Kashia 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 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
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Stefan Čolović ran the middle of the pitch — 6.89
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.89, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dejan Meleg, and the manager let it.
In brief
-
Squad
9 new faces, and Nasaf are still learning each other
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
Squad
International break empties Nasaf
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
Nasaf bow out of the cup
Navbahor go through and Nasaf go home, 0‑1 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.
Market31 Aug 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom31 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Guram Kashia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Lokomotiv wanted more than $280.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Match29 Aug 2026
Bobur Abdiholiqov among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Bobur Abdiholiqov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Nasaf and Sogdiana.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Aug 2026
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match19 Aug 2026
Nasaf march on in the cup
AGMK are out and Nasaf go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.95, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Sardorbek Bahromov again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotivi. Nasaf are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The offer went to Lokomotiv 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Guram Kashia in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasaf this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
500 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Adenis Shala obliged against Metallurg. 4‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Nasaf.
Match12 Aug 2026
Nasaf march on in the cup
Metallurg are out and Nasaf go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.24 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
Marked 8.08 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Age has not caught Yusuf Otubanjo yet — 8.34
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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
Guram Kashia 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 targets17 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.
Squad17 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
Age has not caught Yusuf Otubanjo yet — 8.31
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.31 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Nasaf
Guram Kashia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Aug 2026
The fee is $120.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Navbahor drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pakhtakor 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Yusuf Otubanjo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nasaf.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Islom 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sardor Abdullaev 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
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Shortan, and it could have been more.
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nasaf say no — this time
The offer from Obod for G'olib G'aybullayev 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A brace, and Yusuf Otubanjo takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yusuf Otubanjo provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sardorbek Bahromov did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Sardorbek Bahromov 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.