Marked for Constant Wayou
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Olympique Akbou, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Constant Wayou and JS Saoura agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Alimi Sikiru 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 Aug 2027
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad9 Aug 2027
At 26 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. JS Saoura have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
JS Saoura have made the call to MC Oran. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market9 Aug 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Khalid Dahamni has his answer from JS Saoura; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout9 Aug 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jul 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The bid was some way short and JS Saoura did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Constant Wayou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The offer went to Paradou 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at JS Saoura
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismail Saadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ASO Chlef have kept their man, and JS Saoura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market19 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: ES Mostaganem have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Oussama Daibeche. The answer from JS Saoura has not changed — yet.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdenour Barkat, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Alimi Sikiru 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 Alimi Sikiru is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
JS Saoura say no — this time
The offer from JS Kabylie for Alimi Sikiru 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at JS Saoura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ES Ben Aknoun waiting with a shirt. Nobody at JS Saoura is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Saoura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The offer went to Olympique Akbou 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
33 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets12 Jul 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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Riyane Akacem
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Constant Wayou 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 dugout31 May 2027
No hiding place for Laid Ayad
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Laid Ayad, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 May 2027
Adel Bouchiba knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at JS Saoura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout31 May 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohamed Hammia is on it.
The dugout31 May 2027
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 Nasreddine Zaâlani has written the date down.
Market31 May 2027
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs JS Saoura money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Constant Wayou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anas Yusuf 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 dugout24 May 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout24 May 2027
Alimi Sikiru has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at JS Saoura will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Adel Bouchiba 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 Adel Bouchiba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout24 May 2027
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 Khalid Dahamni has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Saoura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad17 May 2027
Adel Bouchiba 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Anas Yusuf 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 dugout17 May 2027
Riyane Akacem 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Kamel Belmiloud has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at JS Saoura will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout17 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at JS Saoura. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad17 May 2027
Semelo Gueï is starting to look at home
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager plants his flag on Constant Wayou
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Constant Wayou’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Saoura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi 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 dugout10 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout10 May 2027
Nobody at JS Saoura will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout10 May 2027
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 Nasreddine Zaâlani has written the date down.
Squad10 May 2027
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khaled Mounir Allaoui will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Saoura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market19 Apr 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Adel Bouchiba 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juba Oukaci 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kamel Belmiloud has his answer from JS Saoura; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kamel Belmiloud is on it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khaled Mounir Allaoui trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Constant Wayou 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 Apr 2027
Ismail Saadi 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nasreddine Zaâlani, and the manager let it.
Market12 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Khaled Bani Zamah has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at JS Saoura.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohamed Ayoub Belhachemi is on it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at JS Saoura. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
Constant Wayou was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Ismail Saadi 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Adel Bouchiba
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
JS Saoura are still strangers to each other
5 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nour El Islam Fettouhi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Mohamed Hammia has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at JS Saoura 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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Laid Ayad placed on the list
JS Saoura have made Laid Ayad available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Laid Ayad 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Mar 2027
The season ends: position 9 for JS Saoura
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 36 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Adel Bouchiba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Juba Oukaci 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Alimi Sikiru has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at JS Saoura will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdesslam Hannane, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.05, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” JS Saoura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Adel Bouchiba 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Alimi Sikiru scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Paradou, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at JS Saoura
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismail Saadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 7.23 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdenour Barkat, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at JS Saoura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match13 Mar 2027
JS Saoura make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now JS Saoura have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Adel Bouchiba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 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 JS Saoura know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Three points for JS Saoura, 1‑0 the final word against USM Khenchela in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Ismail Saadi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Adel Bouchiba ran the middle of the pitch — 7.07
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.07, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Anas Yusuf
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Juba Oukaci gets it from the manager
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The dugout
Constant Wayou knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match20 Feb 2027
No end in sight to JS Saoura's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Saoura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Constant Wayou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ismail Brahimi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the JS Saoura dressing room was either.
Market22 Feb 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mohamed Hammia has his answer from JS Saoura; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Hammia, and the manager let it.
Match20 Feb 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. JS Kabylie came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Farouk Laoufi dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
Chastening afternoon for JS Saoura
A 0‑3 beating by CR Belouizdad was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match13 Feb 2027
No end in sight to JS Saoura's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Saoura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Constant Wayou 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 targets15 Feb 2027
JS Saoura asked and MC Oran said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market15 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hillal Touba has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market15 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Islam Benaceur has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market15 Feb 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mourad Bensebaini 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hillal Bennacer has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout15 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at JS Saoura
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Squad
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Saoura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Khaled Bani Zamah arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Khaled Bani Zamah has, at JS Saoura, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi 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 targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Le Havre AC have kept their man, and JS Saoura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match6 Feb 2027
1‑2 to USM Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nasreddine Zaâlani, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ismail Brahimi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdulrahman Talal and JS Saoura agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 35. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match30 Dec 2026
The cup run ends for JS Saoura
2‑3 against JS Kabylie, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market4 Jan 2027
JS Saoura say no — this time
The offer from ASO Chlef for Khaled Mounir Allaoui was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Saoura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets4 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
The afternoon belonged to Ismail Saadi
A mark of 7.94, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
Laid Ayad wants to come home
“I did not go to USM Khenchela to sit and watch. I want to come back to JS Saoura and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 20 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Dec 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 JS Saoura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Adel Bouchiba goes up and wins it — 7.74
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 7.74 for the rest of it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Constant Wayou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over MC Alger, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Anas Yusuf beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ismail Brahimi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Taib, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead28 Dec 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nasreddine Zaâlani’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and JS Saoura needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.25, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Adel Bouchiba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ismail Saadi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alimi Sikiru. 2‑0 against Paradou, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Semelo Gueï
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Ismail Brahimi, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to JS Saoura's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Saoura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Adel Bouchiba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
ES Ben Aknoun left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout23 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Riyane Akacem knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at JS Saoura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
The pass was always on for Ismail Saadi
Chances created: 9. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Kamel Belmiloud damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match14 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for JS Saoura
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around JS Saoura are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Constant Wayou 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
JS Saoura caught on 94 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Olympique Akbou scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match14 Nov 2026
It needed Alimi Sikiru to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Olympique Akbou, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fayçal Mebarki, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.” Ismail Brahimi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. JS Saoura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match9 Nov 2026
JS Saoura are in real trouble now
Position 14, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to JS Saoura's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Saoura has to find a result from somewhere.
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 JS Saoura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ismail Saadi 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
JS Saoura cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match7 Nov 2026
0‑2 to JS Kabylie, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout9 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ismail Brahimi 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
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kamel Belmiloud
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. JS Saoura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to JS Saoura's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Saoura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Adel Bouchiba 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑1 to CR Belouizdad, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
Laid Ayad wants to come home
“I did not go to USM Khenchela to sit and watch. I want to come back to JS Saoura and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Looking ahead2 Nov 2026
The leaders are next for JS Saoura
JS Kabylie top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Kamel Belmiloud damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdenour Barkat is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 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 JS Saoura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adel Bouchiba, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at JS Saoura.
Match17 Oct 2026
It needed Nour El Islam Fettouhi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against ASO Chlef, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Ismail Brahimi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kamel Belmiloud
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. JS Saoura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Anas Yusuf runs at them all day
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Adel Bouchiba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mohamed Achraf Kaddouri is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Oussama Bentaleb was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.35. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The terraces12 Oct 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 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
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Adel Bouchiba 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at JS Saoura
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismail Saadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Constant Wayou, and the manager let it.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
JS Saoura are still strangers to each other
8 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 90% of everything JS Saoura earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Constant Wayou 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at JS Saoura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Saadi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for JS Saoura, 1‑0 the final word against MC El Bayadh in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Alimi Sikiru was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ismail Brahimi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdenour Barkat is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
No thanks: Joan Tincres rejects the move
JS Saoura had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Le Havre AC, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Constant Wayou 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ismail Saadi, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
CS Constantine left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Abdenasser Djoudar has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ismail Brahimi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. JS Saoura have done the hard part with Le Havre AC, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Adel Bouchiba 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ismail Saadi 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. JS Saoura have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Riyane Akacem 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager plants his flag on Constant Wayou
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Constant Wayou’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at FC Metz is saying, and nobody at JS Saoura is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at JS Saoura
Constant Wayou 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
JS Saoura asked and FC Nantes 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. Said Ghoulam has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Youcef Bellahcene has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aissa Slimani 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. Abdelkader Brahimi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
JS Saoura are still strangers to each other
8 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Le Havre AC have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
249 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and JS Saoura know what they have.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Constant Wayou commits to JS Saoura for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Constant Wayou 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
A row about effort at JS Saoura
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismail Saadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at JS Saoura, another week without a signature from Adel Bouchiba.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to FC Nantes: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.