From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
27 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Supporters organise against the Shortan board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shortan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.84, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Islom Kenjaboyev has come up in conversations Shortan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match19 Jun 2027
A bad afternoon for Shortan against Bukhara
2‑3 to Bukhara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Akmal Akhmedov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
26 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shortan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Jun 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.
Market14 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Shortan asked and Bunyodkor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market14 Jun 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rustam Akhmedov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iskandar Shayqulov, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Looking ahead
A six-pointer for Shortan
-
Match
The half-term report on Shortan
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
25 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shortan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Jun 2027
Chastening afternoon for Shortan
A 0‑4 beating by Qizilqum was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market7 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 Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Shortan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mashal, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Nobody left the Shortan 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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 May 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
24 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 May 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shortan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match31 May 2027
Shortan sink to position 16
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad31 May 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.
Squad31 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Akmal Akhmedov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout31 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout31 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Iskandar Shayqulov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
23 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 133 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces24 May 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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 May 2027
Neftchi will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Behruz Soatov has pre-agreed a move to Shortan, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Roman Vegerya
“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 May 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
Uneasy
Match15 May 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings17 May 2027
G'anisher Qodirov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.03
A mark of 8.03 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match15 May 2027
Shortan leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad17 May 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces17 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. G'anisher Qodirov 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.
Squad17 May 2027
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Match15 May 2027
Late, late show earns Shortan a point
Minute 91, against AGMK, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Iskandar Shayqulov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
21 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
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Marked 7.63 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match8 May 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Shortan
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Market10 May 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dostonbek Hasanov 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.
Market10 May 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sardor 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.
The dugout10 May 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Boardroom
Wages eat 86% of everything Shortan earn
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Squad
A row about effort at Shortan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Shortan
Position 15 and 2 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.
Squad3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 May 2027
Shortan leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirjalol Jumayev, and the manager let it.
Loan watch3 May 2027
Bekjon Rahmatov is tired of being somebody else's player
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Shortan where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Sogdiana until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Supporters organise against the Shortan board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑4 by Sogdiana, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad26 Apr 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Sardorbek Saidov
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
18 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Nowhere to hide for Shortan
0‑4 against Nasaf, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout19 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Doors closed at Shortan
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Akmal Akhmedov to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Shortan, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Roman Vegerya's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nuriddin Xasanov
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shortan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
No sign of nerves from G'anisher Qodirov at 20 — 7.66
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. G'anisher Qodirov did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad12 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Shortan and Metallurg, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match10 Apr 2027
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rustam Hasanov 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rustam Akhmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Apr 2027
16 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nuriddin Xasanov
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shortan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match31 Mar 2027
Shortan out of the cup
Pakhtakor ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The Shortan board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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 ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Shortan, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
14 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nuriddin Xasanov damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Nowhere to hide for Shortan
0‑3 against Pakhtakor, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad29 Mar 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Doors closed at Shortan
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nuriddin Xasanov
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shortan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match20 Mar 2027
A bad afternoon for Shortan against Obod
1‑3 to Obod, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Vegerya, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Akmal Akhmedov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Ulug'bek Xoliqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
12 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Nuriddin Xasanov 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shortan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Akmal Akhmedov after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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
Squad8 Mar 2027
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Shortan
11 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 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Iskandar Shayqulov commits to Shortan for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Sogdiana to sit and watch. I want to come back to Shortan and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Match6 Mar 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
No investment in the facilities at Shortan
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Nuriddin Xasanov damages knee ligaments — 63 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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 terraces1 Mar 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
Bukhara next, and one man in the Shortan dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
70 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market22 Feb 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ulug'bek Xudayberdiyev has his answer from Shortan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Sardorbek Saidov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Shortan will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match15 Feb 2027
Shortan are in real trouble now
Position 15, 0 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad15 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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ulug'bek Xoliqov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market15 Feb 2027
The window shut and Ulug'bek Xudayberdiyev is still in the building
Shortan spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Vegerya commits to Shortan for another 3 years.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Anger at Shortan 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Shortan until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say G'anisher Qodirov is on it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Sardorbek Saidov has moved up it.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Diyorbek Haliyev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Nuriddin Xasanov damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shortan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market25 Jan 2027
Sogdiana come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Shortan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shortan have done the hard part with Bunyodkor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Abbos Ergashboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ulug'bek Xoliqov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
106 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match18 Jan 2027
Shortan sink to position 15
0 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mashal have kept their man, and Shortan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shortan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Otabek Hasanov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Mashal have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nuriddin Xasanov
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shortan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Shortan have made the call to Pakhtakor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ulug'bek Xoliqov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Shortan will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market4 Jan 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ulug'bek Xudayberdiyev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bahrom Abdurahimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say G'anisher Qodirov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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 Dec 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 148% of everything Shortan earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bahrom Abdurahimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sardorbek Saidov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Dec 2026
Shortan sink to position 15
0 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market21 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shortan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jaloliddin Tukhtasinov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bekjon Rahmatov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ulug'bek Xudayberdiyev has written the date down.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Diyorbek Haliyev: 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.” Shortan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Shortan
Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Bekjon Rahmatov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Shortan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 163% of the Shortan income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bekjon Rahmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Shortan
Position 15 and 0 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shortan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bekjon Rahmatov is on it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shortan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Bahrom Abdurahimov has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shortan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shortan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Farhod Ahmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aziz Shomurodov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bekjon Rahmatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bahrom Abdurahimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say G'anisher Qodirov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 163% of the Shortan income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ulug'bek Xudayberdiyev, and the manager let it.
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 Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bahrom Abdurahimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Oct 2026
Shortan are in real trouble now
Position 15, 0 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 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shortan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Bekjon Rahmatov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Shortan will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shortan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Shortan
Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bekjon Rahmatov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
25 days out for Ulugbek Ganiev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Shortan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 238% of everything Shortan earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Oct 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Shortan
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.
Match28 Sep 2026
Shortan are in real trouble now
Position 15, 0 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shortan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match26 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Shortan against Andijon
0‑1 to Andijon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Sep 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
G'anisher Qodirov, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shortan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
Qizilqum left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match19 Sep 2026
Shortan 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Akmal Akhmedov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Bekjon Rahmatov
“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
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑3 to Kokand 1912, 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match12 Sep 2026
Shortan cannot find the net
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Shortan
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Akmal Akhmedov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Shortan
Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Shortan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Shortan until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market7 Sep 2026
Shortan say no — this time
The offer from Metallurg for Adhamjon Musulmonov 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Shortan
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑2 to Lokomotiv, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ulug'bek Xudayberdiyev, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Shortan
A 0‑3 beating by AGMK was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Shortan
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Shortan
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shohruh Eshbo'tayev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Akmal Akhmedov after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mirkomil Abdurazzoqov 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
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nasaf waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shortan is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Shortan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shortan has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Shortan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Andijon have kept their man, and Shortan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
Shortan bow out of the cup
Bunyodkor go through and Shortan go home, 4‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Neftchi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 9.58 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to G'anisher Qodirov, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Shortan
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Shortan are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Shortan
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match12 Aug 2026
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Shortan and Bunyodkor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Shortan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev 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
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shortan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shortan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sardor Masharipov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jaloliddin Abdullaev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jasur Fayzullaev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Shortan
A 1‑4 beating by Nasaf was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad3 Aug 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iskandar Shayqulov and Shortan agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Shohruh Eshbo'tayev 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 Aug 2026
Abrorbek Toshqo'ziev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shohruh Eshbo'tayev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Shortan 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 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.