Marked for Oussama Litim
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jun 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around USM Khenchela people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets24 Jun 2030
Fee done, terms next for Laid Ayad
USM Khenchela and MC El Bayadh have settled on $36.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market24 Jun 2030
“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.
Transfer targets24 Jun 2030
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. USM Khenchela have done the hard part with Olympique Akbou, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market24 Jun 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Taher Ben Khelifa 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.
Market24 Jun 2030
Brahim Benzaza is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at USM Khenchela has been clear about where Brahim Benzaza stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout24 Jun 2030
Abdelhafid Benamara is still being punished for one mistake
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.
The dugout24 Jun 2030
Oussama Litim 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 Oussama Litim is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 May 2030
Yves Aimé Zoa breaks a bone — 16 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 May 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what USM Khenchela can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 May 2030
Réda Boumechra 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.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Badreddine Souyad 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 dugout27 May 2030
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout27 May 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at USM Khenchela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Apr 2030
A fracture rules Yves Aimé Zoa out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason USM Khenchela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 Apr 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what USM Khenchela can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Apr 2030
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Badreddine Souyad is a USM Khenchela player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Taher Ben Khelifa 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.
Boardroom29 Apr 2030
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.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Badreddine Souyad is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad29 Apr 2030
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdelhafid Benamara'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.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
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 Mar 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match16 Mar 2030
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. USM Khenchela found something the first half had given no notice of, and ASO Chlef could not hold what they had.
Squad18 Mar 2030
The match ball belongs to Mohamed Ayoub Belhachemi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad18 Mar 2030
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 ratings18 Mar 2030
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.90, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Taher Ben Khelifa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Mar 2030
ASO Chlef made USM Khenchela work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Marked 9.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at USM Khenchela.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 19. 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
Market9 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what USM Khenchela can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ambroise Sanchez Owoundi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zakaria Mansouri and USM Khenchela agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Youcef Douar 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 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Oussama Litim
“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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation USM Khenchela are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
A loan move for Rayane Yesli is in the works
USM Khenchela have made the call to Olympique Akbou. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 May 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at USM Khenchela can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Youcef Douar
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Youcef Douar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 May 2029
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oussama Litim and USM Khenchela agree another 1 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Islam Abbaci
“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.
Market7 May 2029
Still no offer on the table, and Abdelkader Morcely’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad7 May 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and USM Khenchela will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout7 May 2029
Islam Abbaci loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Islam Abbaci's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Apr 2029
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Réda Boumechra
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. USM Khenchela will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Réda Boumechra 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Ghilas Belgacem 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Oussama Litim
“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 dugout23 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at USM Khenchela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Ilyes Atallah is still being punished for one mistake
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
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2029
Réda Boumechra was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youcef Douar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed El Koubi, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Oussama Litim will call it something else in private.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Aleksandr Ermakov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Oussama Litim
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.
Match24 Feb 2029
Point won or two lost for USM Khenchela?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against MC El Bayadh? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead26 Feb 2029
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MB Rouissat in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Feb 2029
0‑4 to MC Alger, 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Youcef Douar has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match10 Feb 2029
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Match10 Feb 2029
4 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youcef Douar 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edgar Sequeira commits to USM Khenchela for another 3 years.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
USM Khenchela asked and ASO Chlef said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Feb 2029
14 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 dugout5 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” USM Khenchela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 Feb 2029
Aymen Bendaoud has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market5 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what USM Khenchela can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
USM Khenchela close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market5 Feb 2029
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ambroise Sanchez Owoundi reports back to USM Khenchela with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Everything agreed with CS Constantine, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oussama Litim and USM Khenchela agree another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Jan 2029
16 days out for Oussama Litim after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. USM Khenchela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Ayobami Junior 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.
Match13 Jan 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilyes Atallah. 1‑0 against MC Oran, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.99 on the card, and the USM Khenchela support went home talking about one name.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
USM Khenchela have made the call to CS Constantine. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Aleksandr Ermakov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Market15 Jan 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ambroise Sanchez Owoundi has his answer from USM Khenchela; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at USM Khenchela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Jan 2029
23 days out for Oussama Litim after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. USM Khenchela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Jan 2029
Aymen Bendaoud has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with USM Alger, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
USM Khenchela asked and ASO Chlef said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ghilas Belgacem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Aymen Bendaoud
“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
Squad1 Jan 2029
Oussama Litim breaks a bone — 32 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match30 Dec 2028
93 minutes played. Ambroise Sanchez Owoundi found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Olympique Akbou went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” USM Khenchela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Réda Boumechra was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Ayobami Junior 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.
Market1 Jan 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ayobami Junior has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at USM Khenchela.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Oussama Litim has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Oussama Litim out for 39 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason USM Khenchela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match23 Dec 2028
13 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and JS Kabylie were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Market25 Dec 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match23 Dec 2028
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Djafar Zabaiou decided nobody was going anywhere. JS Kabylie had no time left to answer.
Squad25 Dec 2028
31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Réda Boumechra 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Ayobami Junior 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 terraces25 Dec 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Djafar Zabaiou 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.
Match23 Dec 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Djafar Zabaiou’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to USM Khenchela.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Dec 2028
13 matches without a win for USM Khenchela
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around USM Khenchela are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Oussama Litim breaks a bone — 49 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
Mohamed El Koubi: 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.” USM Khenchela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market18 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what USM Khenchela can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.13 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Dec 2028
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Dec 2028
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Oussama Litim breaks a bone — 59 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Dec 2028
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market11 Dec 2028
Only the photograph left for Aymen Bendaoud
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aymen Bendaoud will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Dec 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad11 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Dec 2028
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match9 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Oussama Litim out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason USM Khenchela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match2 Dec 2028
11 matches without a win for USM Khenchela
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around USM Khenchela are no longer polite ones.
The terraces4 Dec 2028
The mood at USM Khenchela has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zakaria Mansouri and USM Khenchela agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Réda Boumechra was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Youcef Douar, and the manager let it.
Match2 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market4 Dec 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at USM Khenchela, another week without a signature from Youcef Douar.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Looking ahead
USM Khenchela take on the side everybody is chasing
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Looking ahead
Brahim Benzaza faces his old club
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Oussama Litim out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason USM Khenchela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match25 Nov 2028
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Nov 2028
There were 10 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by JS Saoura, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market27 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Réda Boumechra 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Ghilas Belgacem 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.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
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 dugout27 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
Oussama Litim breaks a bone — 88 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match18 Nov 2028
9 matches without a win for USM Khenchela
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around USM Khenchela are no longer polite ones.
Market20 Nov 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Samangwa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match18 Nov 2028
Late, late show earns USM Khenchela a point
Minute 85, against MB Rouissat, 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 dugout20 Nov 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match18 Nov 2028
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Nov 2028
Oussama Litim breaks a bone — 96 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Nov 2028
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Match13 Nov 2028
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market13 Nov 2028
Aymen Bendaoud has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market13 Nov 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at USM Khenchela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Ghilas Belgacem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Youcef Douar 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at USM Khenchela can tell you which week it ends in.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Oussama Litim out for 105 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason USM Khenchela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match4 Nov 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by CS Constantine, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match4 Nov 2028
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Réda Boumechra was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ghilas Belgacem 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.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
Nobody left the USM Khenchela 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.
Market6 Nov 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Aleksandr Ermakov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad6 Nov 2028
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
Squad30 Oct 2028
114 days out for Oussama Litim after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. USM Khenchela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match28 Oct 2028
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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Réda Boumechra and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match28 Oct 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Djafar Zabaiou commits to USM Khenchela for another 4 years.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Aleksandr Ermakov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christopher Samangwa, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead30 Oct 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against CS Constantine in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
Oussama Litim breaks a bone — 123 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market23 Oct 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Samangwa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match21 Oct 2028
5 matches without a win for USM Khenchela
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around USM Khenchela are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youcef Douar 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Mohamed Youssef
“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 dugout23 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Aleksandr Ermakov was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the USM Khenchela dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Oussama Litim out for 131 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason USM Khenchela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Oct 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what USM Khenchela can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Aymen Bendaoud
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aymen Bendaoud will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” USM Khenchela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match14 Oct 2028
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ghilas Belgacem 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Youcef Douar, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Oct 2028
139 days out for Oussama Litim after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. USM Khenchela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
There were 10 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.
Match4 Oct 2028
Out, 0‑1 to CS Constantine, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Réda Boumechra was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohamed Amine Ezzemani and USM Khenchela agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayobami Junior, and the manager let it.
Match7 Oct 2028
Paradou left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
A fresh start for Zakaria Mansouri under the new man
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Zakaria Mansouri has taken the hint, and USM Khenchela are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Oct 2028
147 days out for Oussama Litim after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. USM Khenchela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Aleksandr Ermakov made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Réda Boumechra 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
Ghilas Belgacem scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to MC Oran, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohamed Amine Ezzemani and USM Khenchela agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Marked 8.32 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aymen Bendaoud, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Sep 2028
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.
Market18 Sep 2028
Aymen Bendaoud has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to USM Khenchela's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at USM Khenchela has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.82 for the rest of it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youcef Douar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
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.
Match16 Sep 2028
A goal on 89 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad18 Sep 2028
6 new faces, and USM Khenchela 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Sep 2028
19 days out for Mahmoud Tarek after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. USM Khenchela will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match9 Sep 2028
4 matches without a win for USM Khenchela
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around USM Khenchela are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Réda Boumechra 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youcef Douar 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.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ismail Haddad was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the USM Khenchela dressing room was either.
The terraces11 Sep 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Aug 2028
Mahmoud Tarek breaks a bone — 57 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Ghilas Belgacem is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad7 Aug 2028
At 27 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Youcef Douar falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Aymen Bendaoud
“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 targets7 Aug 2028
A loan move for Hamid Djaouchi is in the works
USM Khenchela have made the call to CS Constantine. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market7 Aug 2028
A stepping stone, not a home, for Mohamed Youssef
He is doing his job and he is not settling. USM Khenchela were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Oussama Litim has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at USM Khenchela 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.