Célestin Écua

Left Midfielder - JS Kabylie
21 Oct 2027
Thursday
Process

Marked for Célestin Écua

63 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A debut Saïd Remadnia will not forget — 8.49

There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 2 on the scoresheet, 8.49 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.

Match

Cup progress for JS Kabylie

A 3‑1 win over MC El Bayadh, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

The dugout

Zé Lucas keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” JS Kabylie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Nobody wins at JS Kabylie

11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Words exchanged at JS Kabylie

Ryad Boudebouz 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.

Match

The run is over for JS Kabylie

6 matches without defeat, and then MC Alger. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.

The terraces

One of their own: Walid Khermouche

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

JS Kabylie come up short against MC Alger

MC Alger left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua in the eights

A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

Back issues
42 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

JS Kabylie are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 59 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

The dugout

Nadir Yakoubi says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Aly Abeid 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Ahmed Mammeri

“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.

Squad

A row about effort at JS Kabylie

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mostapha Rezkallah Bott was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Abdelmoumen Benchabane told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Abdelmoumen Benchabane has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at JS Kabylie.

In brief

31 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Aimen Mahious takes the afternoon — 9.19

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aimen Mahious provided it, and the 9.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Aimen Mahious is carrying JS Kabylie

16 goals and a season average of 7.45. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Ryad Boudebouz 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.

Match

Aimen Mahious the difference as JS Kabylie beat ASO Chlef

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aimen Mahious. 2‑0 against ASO Chlef, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Looking ahead

The big one: USM Alger come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. JS Kabylie will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

The dugout

Reda Benchaa gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

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.” Karim Mrezigue kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

30 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Aimen Mahious scores twice — 9.46

Two goals and a mark of 9.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Billal Messaoudi is carrying JS Kabylie

23 goals and a season average of 7.53. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

JS Kabylie refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 51 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match

Still nobody has beaten JS Kabylie

The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Words exchanged at JS Kabylie

Ryad Boudebouz 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.

Match

6 goals as JS Kabylie and JS Saoura go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between JS Kabylie and JS Saoura, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Aimen Mahious sends JS Kabylie past JS Saoura

It finished 4‑2, and it was Aimen Mahious’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to JS Kabylie.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi in the eights

A performance of 9.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

JS Kabylie keep winning on the road

3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.

In brief

18 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

36 days out for Alexandre Oukidja after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. JS Kabylie will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 2

26 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

The dugout

Gaya Merbah keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” JS Kabylie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at JS Kabylie

Ryad Boudebouz 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.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Loan watch

Seif Benrabah counts the days

“I watch every JS Kabylie game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MC Oran runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Mostapha Rezkallah Bott 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Oualid Malki

“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 dugout

Half-satisfied: Karim Mrezigue on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

In brief

7 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Alexandre Oukidja breaks a bone — 127 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Oualid Malki at 21 — 7.72

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Oualid Malki did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Transfer targets

No thanks: André rejects the move

JS Kabylie had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Corinthians, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Aly Abeid 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.

Squad

The step up is real for Yakoub Guellati

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.

Match

Oualid Malki the difference as JS Kabylie beat USM Khenchela

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oualid Malki. 1‑0 against USM Khenchela, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

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.” Karim Mrezigue, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

Squad

Koceila Ait Idir falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

The one thing Célestin Écua could not do

Shots: 20, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief