126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ismaily lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anwar Abdelsalam will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ismaily the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Canaria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Isaac Sackey 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 Ismaily, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Mohamed Hassan plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Canaria 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Sackey 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.
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 Nader Farag is on it.
5 goals in 25 games at USM Khenchela — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ismaily updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody at Ismaily is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
In brief
The dugoutHassan Mansour asks for a word with the manager
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ismaily have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria 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 Isaac Sackey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 18 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Ismaily will try not to make too much of it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Salah Salah after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ismaily is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ismaily 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 Isaac Sackey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Salah Salah on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Ismaily pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ibrahim El Nagaawy did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ismaily is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ismaily this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Isaac Sackey 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.
A 2‑1 win over Haras El Hodoud, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Canaria 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 Isaac Sackey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
El Masry held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Ismaily answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Mansour, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 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.” Salah Salah chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Ismaily have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ismaily have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Zidan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ismaily the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isaac Sackey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Éric Traoré’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Ismaily needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nobody at Ismaily 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ismaily have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ismaily they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ismaily this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Isaac Sackey 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Salah Salah after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Canaria 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.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Éric Traoré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Ismaily would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ismaily lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ismaily lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Zidan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ismaily the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
El Dakhleya left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali El Malawany 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 words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ismaily they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ismaily this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Éric Traoré 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isaac Sackey, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Salah Salah to a room that had heard them before.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Masr El Makasa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ismaily is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Ismaily 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vitoria Guimaraes keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Éric Traoré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
$4.6M settles it between the clubs for Marwan Ateya
Al Ahly have accepted the money. What Ismaily do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ismaily have lost him in all but the paperwork.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mujeeb Odifeso provided it, and the 8.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Éric Traoré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Canaria 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Éric Traoré 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Salah Salah was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ismaily dressing room was either.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ismaily lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Éric Traoré 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Sackey 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.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ismaily 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 Ismaily 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 Isaac Sackey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mujeeb Odifeso. 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 Ismaily, another week without a signature from Ibrahim El Nagaawy.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Konta is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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.” Salah Salah, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ismaily lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Éric Traoré 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Isaac Sackey 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 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Salah Salah to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ismaily lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 21 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ismaily this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Isaac Sackey 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Al Ahly.
Al Ahly next, and one man in the Ismaily dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Canaria signs something — a contract at Ismaily or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
1 for Canaria, marked 7.95, 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahim El Nagaawy is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Éric Traoré 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.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Canaria’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ismaily.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali El Malawany 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Salah Salah on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
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.
Éric Traoré 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Isaac Sackey 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Marked 7.06 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Ismaily had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Salah Salah was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ismaily dressing room was either.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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 words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isaac Sackey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
7.89, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Ismaily had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al Ahli, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Canaria 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Éric Traoré 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.
Ismaily asked and Tractor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Everything agreed with Platinum Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mamelodi Sundowns keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Éric Traoré 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Isaac Sackey 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.
Ismaily asked and Masr El Makasa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Amr Aboutrika 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ibrahim Warda 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Salah Warda 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Canaria has, at Ismaily, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Éric Traoré 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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Ismaily go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Aswan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Hassan Saber. The answer from Ismaily has not changed — yet.
Still no offer on the table, and Mohamed Hassan’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Ismaily have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.