From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sogdiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Suhrob Izzatov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Otabek Jo'raqo'ziyev, and the manager let it.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Zhetysu to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sogdiana and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Sogdiana that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
115% of the income goes out in wages at Sogdiana
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Sogdiana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Suhrob Izzatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Sogdiana
Xondamir Mustafoqulov 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Umid Sultonov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout26 Oct 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 Sogdiana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Igor Golban has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Igor Golban has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Sogdiana
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sogdiana are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ollobergan Karimov is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Sogdiana
Filip Ivanović 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
AGMK left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Suhrob Izzatov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Filip Ivanović
“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.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Sogdiana game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Okzhetpes runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Sogdiana
Filip Ivanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Igor Golban gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad12 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Sogdiana are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Sogdiana game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zhetysu runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Luka Đorđević gets picked when it counts
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 Luka Đorđević is on it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Filip Ivanović 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Sogdiana have made Shohruh Isoqov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
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
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Sogdiana know it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sogdiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 150% of everything Sogdiana earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match3 Oct 2026
Bunyodkor left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Sogdiana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Suhrob Izzatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Doniyor Ganiev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Ljupce Doriev gets picked when it counts
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 Ljupce Doriev is on it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Luka Đorđević knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Đorđević trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Sogdiana
Islomjon Qobilov 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Neftchi left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Sogdiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Suhrob Izzatov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Sogdiana lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nodirjon Soyibov is on it.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Islomjon Qobilov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sogdiana needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Islomjon Qobilov 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikola Mirković, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 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 1‑3 Doniyor Ganiev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sogdiana told Filip Ivanović something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Nobody at Sogdiana 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Neftchi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.95, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market14 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sogdiana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nasaf made Sogdiana work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zoir Jo'raboyev, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Suhrob Izzatov 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Doniyor Ganiev could afford to be generous.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Luka Đorđević gets picked when it counts
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 Luka Đorđević is on it.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Pakhtakor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Sogdiana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Sogdiana close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Sogdiana will try again when the window opens; Neftchi may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Sogdiana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Suhrob Izzatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Sogdiana
Xondamir Mustafoqulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sogdiana are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Ljupce Doriev gets picked when it counts
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 Ljupce Doriev is on it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Zoir Jo'raboyev 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 Sep 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Sogdiana than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Aug 2026
The small margins put Sogdiana out
Out, 1‑2 to Pakhtakor, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sogdiana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sogdiana people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Aug 2026
Navbahor come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sogdiana did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything was agreed with Neftchi and then the doctor spoke. Sogdiana have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Filip Ivanović 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Otabek Jo'raqo'ziyev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sogdiana.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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
Upbeat
Match19 Aug 2026
Sogdiana through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Nasaf, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Sogdiana
Filip Ivanović 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Andijon have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samandar Sindarov. The answer from Sogdiana has not changed — yet.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Sogdiana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Suhrob Izzatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Aug 2026
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Aug 2026
Sogdiana through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Andijon, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sogdiana people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dilshodbek Misraliyev did not need any: 8.06, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sogdiana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sogdiana have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match15 Aug 2026
Sogdiana cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ollobergan Karimov 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Sogdiana asked and Ordabasy said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Sogdiana
Filip Ivanović 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
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sogdiana people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market10 Aug 2026
Sogdiana say no — this time
The offer from TSC for Luka Đorđević 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Sogdiana
Islomjon Qobilov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Navbahor this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Sogdiana offered $360.0K; Pakhtakor said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Sogdiana asked and Neftchi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jasur Ismailov 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
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mirzo Ganiev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ljupce Doriev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sogdiana.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Sogdiana
1‑4 against Navbahor, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market3 Aug 2026
Sogdiana say no — this time
The offer from Taraz for Samandarjon Mavlonqulov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksandar Boljević and Sogdiana agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Sogdiana
Islomjon Qobilov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Shortan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sahob Rashidov. The answer from Sogdiana has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Sogdiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Suhrob Izzatov 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 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Zoir Jo'raboyev
“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.