52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. El Masry lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Masry can pretend not to have heard.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Military Production moved on, Amr Shaaban reports back to El Masry, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Karim El Eraki 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Yoni El Malem has, at El Masry, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
El Masry ran out of time with Petrojet. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed El Shami was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Arab Contractors waiting with a shirt. Nobody at El Masry is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El Masry have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer went to ENPPI 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Eloghosa Newton Sunday is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
El Masry asked and Envigado said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
63 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. El Masry lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around El Masry people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Ittihad have accepted the money. What El Masry do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ameed Sawafta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around El Masry the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Amr Shaaban reports back to El Masry with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Karim El Eraki 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.
In brief
SquadWords at El Masry training over how hard people work
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. El Masry lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at El Masry 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ameed Sawafta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. El Masry lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Masry can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Masry is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Karim El Eraki 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 May 2029
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed El Shami 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.
Nobody at El Masry 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.
127 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. El Masry lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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 Bambo is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Hossam Ashraf.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dylan, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Khaled Sobhi 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Blessing Eleke signs something — a contract at El Masry or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Hassan Ali’s negotiating for him
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. El Masry lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 7 on 54 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
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.
Karim El Eraki 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.
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Military Production. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Emad Gabr after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Blessing Eleke had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Haras El Hodoud were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.18 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Masry is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Karim El Eraki 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at El Masry can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Mahmoud Alaa.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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.” Emad Gabr, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 El Masry, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
El Masry close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Amr Shaaban will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around El Masry the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Aswan is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Karim El Eraki 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosario Central have kept their man, and El Masry go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Three points for El Masry, 2‑0 the final word against Masr El Makasa in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed El Shami 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.
8.30. 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bismark Asante will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around El Masry the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation El Masry did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed El Shami 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El Masry will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon El Masry had all but put away. Wadi Degla will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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.
It needed Abderrahim Deghmoum to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Wadi Degla, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Blessing Eleke. 1‑0 against Aswan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed El Shami was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Emad Gabr could afford to be generous.
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 Bambo is on it.
Something was said to Hossam Ashraf and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Nasser Nasser
Karim El Eraki 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 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Emad Gabr could afford to be generous.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El Masry is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Karim El Eraki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed El Shami 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 training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
11 seasons and 185 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahmoud Alaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Hassan Ali.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bismark Asante will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around El Masry the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Mahmoud Alaa 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
A 1‑0 win over Arab Contractors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El Masry will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at El Masry until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Ghazl El Mahalla spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at El Masry has been clear about where Bambo stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Hassan Ali.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Khaled Sobhi 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hassan Ali trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Masry can pretend not to have heard.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Haras El Hodoud moved on, Bismark Asante reports back to El Masry, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Karim El Eraki 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.
At 32 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khaled Sobhi 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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Amr Shaaban has his answer from El Masry; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El Masry, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El Masry have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 23 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.
El Masry offered $210.0K; Al Ahly said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Mahmoud Hamdy.
Something was said to Hussein Faisal and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
SquadKhaled Sobhi falls out with a teammate over standards
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Petrojet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at El Masry is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El Masry have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El Masry they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Karim El Eraki 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 offer went to Al Ahly 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.
At 29 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Ali 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.
Karim El Eraki 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 name of Nwanna Okechukwu has come up in conversations El Masry were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khaled Sobhi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Bambo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. El Masry know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
Karim El Eraki 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khaled Sobhi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 El Masry, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El Masry have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Khaled Sobhi 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.
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 Hussein Faisal is on it.
Successful dribbles: 36. 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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 44 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Karim El Eraki 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at El Masry pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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 Bambo is on it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Hussein Faisal provided it, and the 7.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.98, and 3 involvements.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. El Masry will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 6.80 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Mahmoud Hamada'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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Emad Gabr after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadWords at El Masry training over how hard people work
Karim El Eraki 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at El Masry can tell you which week it ends in.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khaled Sobhi 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.
Nobody at El Masry 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Emad Gabr after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Koffi
Karim El Eraki 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Mahmoud Alaa.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Hassan Ali.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Emad Gabr after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Khaled Sobhi has his answer from El Masry; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aswan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Feb 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Emad Gabr to a room that had heard them before.
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.
8 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
“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 El Masry, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Mahmoud Hamada, marked 7.77, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Khaled Sobhi 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El Masry, and both men came out saying it was fine.
El Masry close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
Karim El Eraki 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Ali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Quilmes have kept their man, and El Masry go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Youssef El Gohary. 1‑0 against Masr El Makasa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Mahmoud Hamdy.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Tiziano Correa is in the works
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mohamed El Shami provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
El Masry asked and Lanús said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Hassan Ali 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Flamengo is saying, and nobody at El Masry is enjoying the guessing.
Karim El Eraki 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aswan have kept their man, and El Masry go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Ali 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 offer from Al Ahly for Mahmoud Hamada 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.
5 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.
Karim El Eraki 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.
El Masry asked and Danubio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassan Ali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
4 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.
Karim El Eraki 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.
Marked 8.16 — 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ahmed Khaled is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then ENPPI scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ameed Sawafta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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.” Emad Gabr chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 10, 21 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Military Production scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
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 dugout13 Dec 2027
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.” Emad Gabr chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutAmr Shaaban dropped after a run of poor form
Karim El Eraki 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hussein Faisal. 1‑0 against Smouha, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 7.98 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, El Masry had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
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.” Emad Gabr, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ameed Sawafta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at El Masry, another week without a signature from Mahmoud Hamdy.
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.
In brief
The dugoutMohamed Hashem has become a man the manager trusts
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El Masry can pretend not to have heard.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
4 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at El Masry can tell you which week it ends in.
Mahmoud Alaa 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Masry this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
With 5 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at El Masry training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amr El Saadawy 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.
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.
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.