From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Sep 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Qizilqum
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Sep 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Sep 2028
A bad afternoon for Qizilqum against Mashal
0‑2 to Mashal, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Sep 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match18 Sep 2028
Qizilqum sink to position 15
26 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market18 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Qizilqum is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 Sep 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
104% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Match16 Sep 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Sep 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match9 Sep 2028
3‑0, and Oleksiy Shchebetun took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Qizilqum tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.90, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Sep 2028
A move Evangelos Siopis 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. Evangelos Siopis is living that version at Qizilqum, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market11 Sep 2028
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market11 Sep 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Sep 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces4 Sep 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Sep 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samandar Shukurullayev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Ninety minutes of Alisher Shukurov at his very best
Marked 8.44. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Match2 Sep 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Navbahor leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market4 Sep 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Qizilqum know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Aug 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
Pressure builds in the Qizilqum boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Farhod Rahmatov 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 Aug 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 Aug 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Shahzod Rahmatullayev. 2‑1 against Bukhara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shahzod Rahmatullayev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 5.80. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Market28 Aug 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksiy Shchebetun signs something — a contract at Qizilqum or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Aug 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 55 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Match19 Aug 2028
12 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Match21 Aug 2028
Every point is an argument now for Qizilqum
Position 16 and 18 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bilal Laurendon will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Aug 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Aug 2028
The phone has started ringing about Chizoba Amaefule again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotiv. Qizilqum are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad21 Aug 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.
Match19 Aug 2028
0‑1 to Andijon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asror G'ofurov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Aug 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 62 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Qizilqum's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Qizilqum has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.99, and 2 involvements.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Farhod Rahmatov 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Bryson Jerome scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Pakhtakor, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 ratings14 Aug 2028
Bryson Jerome was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. 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.
Squad14 Aug 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.
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Aug 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces7 Aug 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match5 Aug 2028
10 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Aug 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
A defender's goal wins it for Qizilqum — 7.83
1 for Samandar Shukurullayev, marked 7.83, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match5 Aug 2028
Kokand 1912 left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Aug 2028
Asror G'ofurov 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 ratings7 Aug 2028
Marked 5.30, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Qizilqum's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Qizilqum has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Qizilqum
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market31 Jul 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Asror G'ofurov 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asror G'ofurov, and the manager let it.
Match29 Jul 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
5.63. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Jul 2028
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 17 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.
Match22 Jul 2028
8 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Market24 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Qizilqum is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Jul 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Jul 2028
A bad afternoon for Qizilqum against AGMK
0‑2 to AGMK, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Jul 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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Wages eat 118% of everything Qizilqum earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match15 Jul 2028
7 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fayzullobek Jumanqo'ziyev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad17 Jul 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.
Match15 Jul 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market17 Jul 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Qizilqum know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces10 Jul 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match8 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad10 Jul 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Jul 2028
1‑2 to Neftchi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 Jul 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asror G'ofurov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
Diyor Rahmatullayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Qizilqum, another week without a signature from Ilhomjon Vahobov.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Rustam Ahmedov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Qizilqum can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the Qizilqum boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market3 Jul 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jul 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.
Match1 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Qizilqum's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Qizilqum has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Farhod Rahmatov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Grigol Chabradze and Qizilqum agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match1 Jul 2028
Qizilqum cannot find the net
3 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jun 2028
Shohruz Norxonov damages knee ligaments — 113 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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.
Match26 Jun 2028
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 16 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.
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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 Jun 2028
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad26 Jun 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Shortan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bilal Laurendon. The answer from Qizilqum has not changed — yet.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match14 Jun 2028
Qizilqum bow out of the cup
Pakhtakor go through and Qizilqum go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces19 Jun 2028
A cup hiding at Pakhtakor leaves Qizilqum explaining themselves
1-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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
Cosmin Man gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cosmin Man has just signed for Qizilqum, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match17 Jun 2028
0‑1 to Metallurg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces12 Jun 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad12 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.
Squad12 Jun 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Jun 2028
Mashal left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asror G'ofurov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market12 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Farhod Rahmatov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
135 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Asror G'ofurov, 33, rolls back the years — 7.84
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Farhod Rahmatov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Marked 9.76. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Match3 Jun 2028
Three points for Qizilqum, 3‑2 the final word against Shortan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Ninety minutes of Alisher Shukurov at his very best
Marked 9.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Squad5 Jun 2028
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.
Squad5 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
The name of Shohruz Norxonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
142 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 May 2028
Qizilqum sink to position 15
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad29 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 May 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asror G'ofurov 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.
Squad29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asror G'ofurov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom29 May 2028
89% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Marked 5.70. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings29 May 2028
5.72 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shohruz Norxonov
149 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 May 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The terraces22 May 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. O'ktamjon Abdumalikov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Farhod Rahmatov, and the manager let it.
Match20 May 2028
A 1‑0 win over Navbahor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 7.93. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces15 May 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market15 May 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.
Squad15 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 May 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Islom Kenjaboyev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Shahzod Rahmatullayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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 ratings15 May 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Squad15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ulug'bek Xoliqov, and the manager let it.
Squad15 May 2028
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 May 2028
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shohruz Norxonov commits to Qizilqum for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 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.
Match6 May 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings8 May 2028
4 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Market8 May 2028
The name of Shohruz Norxonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 Apr 2028
9 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Match1 May 2028
Qizilqum sink to position 16
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad1 May 2028
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.
Market1 May 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samandar Shukurullayev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom1 May 2028
85% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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
Squad24 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match22 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Qizilqum's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Qizilqum has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad24 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
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 Apr 2028
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 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The terraces24 Apr 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces17 Apr 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market17 Apr 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Bilal Laurendon: 6 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match5 Apr 2028
Cup progress for Qizilqum
A 1‑1 win over Lokomotiv, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match8 Apr 2028
6 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A first appearance Eldor Fayzullaev will want to forget — 5.67
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.67, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Farhod Rahmatov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Ninety minutes of Islom Kenjaboyev at his very best
Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Apr 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The Qizilqum board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Match1 Apr 2028
4 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 Apr 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadaziz Ibrohimov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Qizilqum has been clear about where Humoyunshoh Sayyotov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Farhod Rahmatov 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 Mar 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 ratings27 Mar 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Squad27 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
It needed Islom Kenjaboyev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Neftchi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces20 Mar 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad20 Mar 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad20 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Mar 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Mar 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad13 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Shohruz Norxonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
5.53. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
5.57. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Marked 5.70. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nikola Kumburović commits to Qizilqum for another 4 years.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Graduation day at Qizilqum
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Mar 2028
Ulug'bek Xoliqov 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ulugbek Suyunov 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
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.
Market6 Mar 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jaloliddin Ganiev 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. Dostonbek Suyunov 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.
Squad6 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Feb 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Qizilqum
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The terraces21 Feb 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad21 Feb 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Feb 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A move Reza Noorafkan 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. Reza Noorafkan is living that version at Qizilqum, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 Feb 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Feb 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Feb 2028
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 21 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.
Squad7 Feb 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shohruz Norxonov 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 Feb 2028
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Ulugbek Mirzaev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Wages eat 88% of everything Qizilqum earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Sogdiana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Malick Touré. The answer from Qizilqum has not changed — yet.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Malick Touré wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Qizilqum now know that too.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shahzod Rahmatullayev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The numbers do not look good at Qizilqum
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Qizilqum
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Qizilqum is running low.
The terraces24 Jan 2028
Anger at Qizilqum spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market24 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Jan 2028
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jasurbek Ubaydullayev is living that version at Qizilqum, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Muhammadaziz Ibrohimov and Qizilqum agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Qizilqum have gone and got theirs early.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Jan 2028
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 21 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.
Market10 Jan 2028
Malick Touré 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Jan 2028
Nasaf come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Qizilqum did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Jan 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Rustam Ahmedov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market3 Jan 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Qizilqum have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Jan 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Nikola Kumburović 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 Jan 2028
Shohruz Norxonov loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Shohruz Norxonov's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Qizilqum counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Qizilqum now.
Market3 Jan 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Qizilqum has been clear about where Chizoba Amaefule stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market3 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Islom Kenjaboyev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
The mood at Qizilqum has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Qizilqum
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Qizilqum is running low.
Market27 Dec 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Farhod Rahmatov 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 Dec 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Dec 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match13 Dec 2027
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 21 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.
Market13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Wages eat 91% of everything Qizilqum earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Dec 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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 Dec 2027
Qizilqum counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Qizilqum now.
Squad6 Dec 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
Squad29 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
The mood at Qizilqum has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Qizilqum
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Qizilqum is running low.
Market29 Nov 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad29 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 111 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market22 Nov 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market22 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 118 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match15 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Qizilqum
Position 16 and 21 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.
Market15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
114% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksiy Shchebetun is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Farhod Rahmatov out for 125 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Nov 2027
Malick Touré 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Nov 2027
The mood at Qizilqum has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Qizilqum
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Qizilqum is running low.
Market1 Nov 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 Nov 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 Nov 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 Qizilqum would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Oct 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 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Qizilqum is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Oct 2027
Qizilqum sink to position 16
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Oct 2027
Malick Touré 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammadaziz Ibrohimov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
The mood at Qizilqum has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Qizilqum
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Qizilqum is running low.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
An order from above at Qizilqum: 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jaba Jighauri commits to Qizilqum for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 Oct 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Market4 Oct 2027
The clock runs on Bryson Jerome's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces27 Sep 2027
Fear has settled over Qizilqum
Position 16, 21 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
Market27 Sep 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 ratings27 Sep 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Qizilqum — 7.87
1 for Samandar Shukurullayev, marked 7.87, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match25 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Market27 Sep 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match25 Sep 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaba Jighauri, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Sep 2027
Qizilqum sink to position 16
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market20 Sep 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Farhod Rahmatov 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 Sep 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 ratings20 Sep 2027
Marked 8.60 — 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 ratings20 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Islom Kenjaboyev at his very best
Marked 8.53. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Match18 Sep 2027
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Islom Kenjaboyev had Qizilqum level again within 3 minutes, and Shortan never got to play with a lead at all.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
118% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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.
Squad20 Sep 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
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 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; Qizilqum are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Alisher Shukurov at his very best
Marked 8.62. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Match11 Sep 2027
No time for Obod to settle
The goal that put Obod ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Qizilqum equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad13 Sep 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match11 Sep 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Obod leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Qizilqum counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Qizilqum now.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A move Bryson Jerome 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. Bryson Jerome is living that version at Qizilqum, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shohruz Norxonov, and the manager let it.
Match4 Sep 2027
0‑1 to Navbahor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market6 Sep 2027
Humoyunshoh Sayyotov returns from a loan that gave him nothing
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
5 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Jaba Jighauri, 35, rolls back the years — 8.64
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.64 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match28 Aug 2027
Qizilqum are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market30 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Akmaljon Muzaffarov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Aug 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Jaba Jighauri’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Alisher Shukurov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.32. 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad30 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Aug 2027
Qizilqum sink to position 16
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match21 Aug 2027
0‑4 to Andijon, 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.
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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Qizilqum are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islom Kenjaboyev, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Javohir Ubaydullayev 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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Nobody left the Qizilqum 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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Wages eat 89% of everything Qizilqum earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
Chastening afternoon for Qizilqum
A 0‑3 beating by Pakhtakor was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
16th and falling: the mood at Qizilqum has gone
16 points and a position everybody in the ground can do the arithmetic on. The songs have stopped being about the team and started being about surviving, which is a different noise entirely.
Squad16 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Aug 2027
Qizilqum are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaba Jighauri, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The team sheet said everything about Bilal Laurendon
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Bilal Laurendon.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Aug 2027
2 behind and going nowhere, until Jaba Jighauri decided otherwise. Kokand 1912 had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Qizilqum — 7.61
1 for Samandar Shukurullayev, marked 7.61, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
A 4‑3 win over Kokand 1912, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market9 Aug 2027
Obod pay $80.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match7 Aug 2027
Qizilqum are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 8.53 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market2 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match31 Jul 2027
4 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Akmaljon Muzaffarov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Jul 2027
Lokomotiv left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jul 2027
Every point is an argument now for Qizilqum
Position 16 and 13 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match24 Jul 2027
AGMK left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bilal Laurendon, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
106% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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 terraces26 Jul 2027
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jul 2027
Malick Touré 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Fear has settled over Qizilqum
Position 16, 13 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Age has not caught Jaba Jighauri yet — 8.03
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad19 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Jul 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikola Kumburović, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Alisher Shukurov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Qizilqum know it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The Qizilqum board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 2‑1 win over Sogdiana, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch5 Jul 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 Qizilqum, and 0 appearances in 23 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.85, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 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.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Jun 2027
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 9 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Shahzod Turopov out for 56 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Grigol Chabradze: 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.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match26 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Wages eat 107% of everything Qizilqum earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match19 Jun 2027
4 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Jun 2027
0‑2 to Metallurg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Jaba Jighauri
“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 Jun 2027
6 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Bilal Laurendon: 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.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Jun 2027
Bunyodkor come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Qizilqum did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Jaba Jighauri, 34, rolls back the years — 7.90
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market14 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Qizilqum have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Farhod Rahmatov 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
A bad afternoon for Qizilqum against Mashal
2‑3 to Mashal, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Shahzod Turopov out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Bunyodkor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jaba Jighauri. The answer from Qizilqum has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Jun 2027
1‑2 to Shortan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match31 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Qizilqum
Position 16 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.
Market31 May 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 2027
Chizoba Amaefule: 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.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 May 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Malick Touré wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Qizilqum now know that too.
Boardroom31 May 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The terraces31 May 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Jaba Jighauri
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 May 2027
Malick Touré 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Oleksiy Shchebetun takes the afternoon — 8.69
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Oleksiy Shchebetun provided it, and the 8.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad24 May 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 May 2027
It finished 3‑1, and it was Oleksiy Shchebetun’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Squad24 May 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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 May 2027
Navbahor blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Navbahor tried to reorganise, Qizilqum did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shohruz Norxonov signs something — a contract at Qizilqum or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
11 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Shahzod Turopov out for 102 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Squad17 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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 ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Jaba Jighauri
“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.
Match15 May 2027
0‑1 to Bukhara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings17 May 2027
A mark of 5.47 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 May 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; Qizilqum are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match8 May 2027
Andijon left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings10 May 2027
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Qizilqum lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings10 May 2027
5.63 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Qizilqum's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Qizilqum has to find a result from somewhere.
Match3 May 2027
Qizilqum are in real trouble now
Position 16, 5 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikola Kumburović, and the manager let it.
Market3 May 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Shahzod Rahmatullayev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Qizilqum.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at Qizilqum and a proper look at me.” He remains Bukhara’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
Boardroom3 May 2027
92% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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
Market26 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match24 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
8 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.
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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
3.99. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad19 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 Qizilqum will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
Nowhere to hide for Qizilqum
1‑4 against AGMK, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market12 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Samandar Shukurullayev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Qizilqum.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
Nobody left the Qizilqum 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Mar 2027
The cup run ends for Qizilqum
0‑1 against Nasaf, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 37 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad5 Apr 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The Qizilqum board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.71 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chizoba Amaefule and Qizilqum agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Nikola Kumburović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Shohruz Norxonov, 33, rolls back the years — 7.90
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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
“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 Mar 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match27 Mar 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
Sogdiana left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Alisher Shukurov at his very best
Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Squad22 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 20 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Jaba Jighauri
“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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Shohruz Norxonov, 33, rolls back the years — 7.81
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jaba Jighauri and Qizilqum agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 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; Qizilqum are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Graduation day at Qizilqum
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Match6 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Shohruz Norxonov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rustam Masharipov 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ulugbek Mirzaev 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
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 Mar 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Tohirbek To'xtasinov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 50 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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 Feb 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksiy Shchebetun is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Oleksiy Shchebetun’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 66 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Feb 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bader Al-Omair gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bader Al-Omair has just signed for Qizilqum, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Shohruz Norxonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 73 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
63 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
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 80 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Farhod Rahmatov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jan 2027
Suhrob Eshboyev has left for Obod in a $84.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Jan 2027
Malick Touré 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 Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
Qizilqum say no — this time
The offer from Obod for Suhrob Eshboyev 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
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Qizilqum know it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Malick Touré breaks a bone — 110 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Chizoba Amaefule 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 Dec 2026
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 118 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 125 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shahzod Rahmatullayev commits to Qizilqum for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 134 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Qizilqum is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Malick Touré out for 141 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Qizilqum will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
In brief
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Squad
Tempers go at Qizilqum
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Squad
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Qizilqum is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Bilal Laurendon
“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
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Islom Kenjaboyev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksiy Shchebetun is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 168% of everything Qizilqum 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.