Marked for Abdelhak Sameur
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sofiane Kacem
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MC Alger lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MC Alger this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Bakary Haïdara 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
MC Alger 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.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Merwane Khelif has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at MC Alger 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Mohamed Zoungrana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alhassane Bangoura commits to MC Alger for another 4 years.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
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.” Islam Guedioura chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Ayoub Abdellaoui
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
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 Merwane Khelif is on it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mamaye Coulibaly, and the manager let it.
Match21 Oct 2028
Point won or two lost for MC Alger?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against ES Ben Aknoun? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market23 Oct 2028
The name of Salah Mohsen keeps appearing in other people's back pages. MC Alger say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
MC Alger close the window on a squad of their own making
19 in and 14 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around MC Alger they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Alexandre Oukidja 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Abdelhak Sameur is a MC Alger player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
5 academy graduates step up at MC Alger
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SuperSport United have kept their man, and MC Alger go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market4 Sep 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdelkader Ounas 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jul 2028
Réda Boumechra damages knee ligaments — 86 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 86 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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at USM Khenchela
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at USM Khenchela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with MC Oran, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
No thanks: Jevan Beattie rejects the move
USM Khenchela had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Tranmere Rovers, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
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Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayobami Junior 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 targets24 Jul 2028
USM Khenchela asked and RB Leipzig said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Réda Boumechra
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. USM Khenchela lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces17 Jul 2028
The mood at USM Khenchela has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match17 Jul 2028
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market17 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at USM Khenchela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelhak Sameur will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around USM Khenchela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
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Squad17 Jul 2028
Ahmida Zenasni 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 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayobami Junior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Paris Saint-Germain is saying, and nobody at USM Khenchela is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Ahmida Zenasni 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 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paris Saint-Germain have kept their man, and USM Khenchela go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
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Squad10 Jul 2028
Nadjib Baouia 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 dugout10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christopher Samangwa, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan move for Samba Konaté is in the works
USM Khenchela have made the call to RB Leipzig. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market10 Jul 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at USM Khenchela, another week without a signature from Christopher Samangwa.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces19 Jun 2028
The mood at USM Khenchela has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match19 Jun 2028
21 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market19 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at USM Khenchela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jun 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around USM Khenchela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
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Squad19 Jun 2028
Serge Badjo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nadjib Baouia 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 targets19 Jun 2028
USM Khenchela have made the call to LOSC Lille. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Liverpool keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdelhak Sameur has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Zakaria Saidi 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 Jun 2028
Ayobami Junior falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
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Market12 Jun 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market12 Jun 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Yannis Tafer has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at USM Khenchela.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 May 2028
The mood at USM Khenchela has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match22 May 2028
Every point is an argument now for USM Khenchela
Position 14 and 21 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout22 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 May 2028
Ahmida Zenasni was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 May 2028
Ayobami Junior falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdelhak Sameur, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
Serge Badjo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Ayobami Junior falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Serge Badjo, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market15 May 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at USM Khenchela, another week without a signature from Serge Badjo.
The dugout15 May 2028
Oussama Litim has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at USM Khenchela will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 May 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad8 May 2028
Serge Badjo 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oussama Litim and USM Khenchela agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 May 2028
“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 dugout8 May 2028
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The dugout8 May 2028
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Merouane Zerrouki was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout8 May 2028
Serge Badjo 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 Serge Badjo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad8 May 2028
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at USM Khenchela says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Squad8 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at USM Khenchela would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
Ahmida Zenasni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at USM Khenchela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayobami Junior 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 Apr 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad10 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohamed Abdelnasser and USM Khenchela agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
USM Khenchela are still strangers to each other
6 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Pressure builds in the USM Khenchela boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Adam Mrezigue has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at USM Khenchela can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at USM Khenchela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Ayobami Junior falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market3 Apr 2028
Abdelhak Sameur is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at USM Khenchela has been clear about where Abdelhak Sameur stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 Apr 2028
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.