3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Miguel Carvalho will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Al-Qadisiyah escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.64 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
8.89. 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.
Mohammed Marran had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Al-Ittihad were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.04 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
6 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Qadisiyah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Qadisiyah has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Nov 2037
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Musab Al-Juwayr 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.
Manuel Cocca 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.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.45 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Mojzel, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Erick Jali at his very best
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Musab Al-Juwayr provided it, and the 8.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.56 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Wehda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“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 Al-Qadisiyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.35 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khaled Al-Rammah and Al-Qadisiyah agree another 2 years.
Squad5 Oct 2037
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Musab Al-Juwayr 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Shabab, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 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. 8.27 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Qadisiyah and Hajer in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad28 Sep 2037
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khaled Al-Rammah 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.
Marked 8.68 — 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.
“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 Al-Qadisiyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Al-Qadisiyah will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad10 Aug 2037
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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.
Manuel Cocca 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Qadisiyah is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Qadisiyah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 May 2037
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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.
Manuel Cocca 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
In brief
SquadIker Almena has become a man the manager trusts
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Qadisiyah can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Qadisiyah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Qadisiyah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Al-Qadisiyah heard it as anything else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Turki Al-Ammar and Al-Qadisiyah agree another 2 years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Qadisiyah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Qadisiyah is running low.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Qadisiyah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Mar 2037
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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.
Manuel Cocca 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Iker Almena 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Qadisiyah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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. 8.87 at 40, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Firman Abimanyu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Qadisiyah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Qadisiyah and Ohod, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Qadisiyah can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.31 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Qadisiyah hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iker Almena. 3‑2 against Al-Mojzel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
9 goals in one match, Morteza Ghoddos on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Taawoun.
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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
In brief
Player ratingsKhaled Al-Rammah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.54 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 Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Nassr in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad13 Oct 2036
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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.
Player ratings13 Oct 2036
Miguel Carvalho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.90. 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. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.15 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Yakovlev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Qadisiyah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Shabab, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad29 Sep 2036
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
The offer from Najran for Mubarak Al-Buainain 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.
“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 Al-Qadisiyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
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.
13 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mohammed Al-Harbi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hamad Al-Hassan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah 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.
In brief
BoardroomNo investment in the facilities at Al-Qadisiyah
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Qadisiyah is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Add another name to the list: Al-Ra'ed have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Khaled Al-Rammah. The answer from Al-Qadisiyah has not changed — yet.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Guy Melikson is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Jul 2036
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Al-Riyadh for Mubarak Al-Buainain 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.
“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 Al-Qadisiyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 phone has started ringing about Firman Abimanyu again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Batin. Al-Qadisiyah are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Waleed Al-Shehri has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Qadisiyah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Ammar 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 shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Manuel Cocca 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.