Marked for Oussama Litim
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
Market1 Mar 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” USM Khenchela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match27 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Abdou Sissoko 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑1 to ES Setif, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and USM Khenchela know it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 69 days on the sidelines for Ahmed El Sheikh, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Shikabala Soliman 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
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dramane Kamagaté 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Ammar Oukil told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ammar Oukil has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at USM Khenchela.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match20 Feb 2027
Late, late show earns USM Khenchela a point
Minute 85, against ES Mostaganem, 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
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.
Match20 Feb 2027
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 dugout22 Feb 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
Squad1 Feb 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.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Dramane Kamagaté at 21 — 7.72
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dramane Kamagaté did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Ahmed El Sheikh, 35, rolls back the years — 8.25
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
USM Khenchela close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
8 matches without a win, and then this, against ES Ben Aknoun. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Abdou Sissoko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ammar Oukil falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
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.
Match9 Jan 2027
6 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Zamalek, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dramane Kamagaté is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oussama Litim, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohamed Djabou after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Dramane Kamagaté 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
Zakaria Mansouri 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Mohamed Zaalouk
“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.
Market28 Dec 2026
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lindjeck Tchonko Towo and USM Khenchela agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout28 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Oussama Litim 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 Oussama Litim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
There were 9 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Abdou Sissoko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dramane Kamagaté 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
CS Constantine left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mohamed Djabou to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Ammar Oukil
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout30 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
Crisis
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for USM Khenchela
Position 14 and 4 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Aymen Bendaoud: 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Abdou Sissoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zakaria Mansouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Both jobs done by Yannis Tafer — 7.02
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.02, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Imadeddine Boubekeur, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Oussama Litim knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mohamed Djabou to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Ahmida Zenasni: 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dramane Kamagaté and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Zakaria Mansouri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ammar Oukil, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmed El Sheikh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
There were 14 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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 Nov 2026
Shikabala Soliman 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Dramane Kamagaté 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 Abdou Sissoko, and the manager let it.
Match7 Nov 2026
0‑1 to ES Setif, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout9 Nov 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 dugout9 Nov 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 0‑1 Mohamed Djabou left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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 ratings2 Nov 2026
Mohamed Zaalouk, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Yannis Tafer, 35, rolls back the years — 8.12
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.12 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dramane Kamagaté 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zakaria Mansouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over ES Mostaganem, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Mohamed Zaalouk: 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dramane Kamagaté 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for USM Khenchela is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Mansouri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zakaria Mansouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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 Mohamed Djabou to a room that had heard them before.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ammar Oukil’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and USM Khenchela needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 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 USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zakaria Mansouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Sep 2026
CR Belouizdad left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zakaria Mansouri, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohamed Djabou after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
JS Kabylie next, and one man in the USM Khenchela dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Serge Badjo
Nobody at USM Khenchela is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Réda Boumechra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Mansouri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and USM Khenchela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
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
The clock runs on Ayobami Junior's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
USM Khenchela have made the call to USM Alger. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Mohamed Zaalouk is in the works
USM Khenchela have made the call to Al Ahly. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.