Marked for Sid Ali Lamri
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2027
21 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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” ES Mostaganem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
ES Mostaganem asked and ES Setif said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match6 Feb 2027
ES Mostaganem are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match6 Feb 2027
1‑2 to Olympique Akbou, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout8 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djamel Benlamri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Jan 2027
17 matches without a win for ES Mostaganem
The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around ES Mostaganem are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Jan 2027
22 days out for Oussama Benhaoua after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ES Mostaganem will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Sid Ali Lamri, 35, rolls back the years — 7.82
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The offer went to CS Constantine 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Everybody at ES Mostaganem saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout11 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
ES Setif 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
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Dec 2026
36 days out for Oussama Benhaoua after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ES Mostaganem will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ali Haroun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daouda Koné, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sid Ali Lamri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Nassim Djabou left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match21 Dec 2026
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad21 Dec 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 ES Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Sid Ali Lamri 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Louis Bonnieu and ES Mostaganem agree another 3 years.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdelhafid Benamara, and the manager let it.
Market21 Dec 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
Anger at ES Mostaganem spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Oussama Benhaoua out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ES Mostaganem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Dec 2026
0‑2 to MC Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at ES Mostaganem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sid Ali Lamri 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohamed Naâmani and ES Mostaganem agree another 1 years.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mounir Aziria, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Daouda Koné 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
11 matches without a win for ES Mostaganem
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around ES Mostaganem are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Oussama Benhaoua out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ES Mostaganem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match28 Nov 2026
A 0‑3 beating by ES Setif was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ES Mostaganem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Sid Ali Lamri 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A mistake Daouda Koné will not forget
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Nassim Djabou left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ES Mostaganem lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sid Ali Lamri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdelhafid Benamara, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Abdellah El Moudène’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ES Mostaganem needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
0‑3 to ES Ben Aknoun, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 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 ES Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at ES Mostaganem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sid Ali Lamri 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Nassim Djabou to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Oct 2026
CS Constantine go through and ES Mostaganem go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Arthylio Nadé 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. Arthylio Nadé has, at ES Mostaganem, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A one-man rearguard from Daouda Koné
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Haythem Atbi is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sid Ali Lamri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sid Ali Lamri, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with JS Kabylie the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that ES Mostaganem will enjoy reviewing.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A one-man rearguard from Daouda Koné
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
JS Kabylie left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daouda Koné, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sid Ali Lamri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohamed Naâmani and ES Mostaganem agree another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ali Haroun and ES Mostaganem agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ali Haroun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Mohamed Hacene Bengrina has come up in conversations ES Mostaganem were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
ES Mostaganem asked and Petrojet said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months and counting on Ali Haroun
Still no offer on the table, and Ali Haroun’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djamel Benlamri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Daouda Koné is in the works
ES Mostaganem have made the call to Real Bamako. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
ASO Chlef 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.