The Baniyas Gazette
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
Pressure builds in the Baniyas boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Baniyas
Ali Ghazal 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.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Nobody could get near Saviour Godwin
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Saviour Godwin 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.
Match17 Feb 2029
Munas Dabbur’s goal not enough for Baniyas
Munas Dabbur scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Al Nasr, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad19 Feb 2029
No hiding place for Fabio Lima
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabio Lima, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Baniyas pick somebody else ahead of Abdulelah Al-Khaibari
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.
The terraces19 Feb 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Suhail Al-Noobi
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
An afternoon Gustavo Viera will want back
Marked 5.66. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
In brief
- Player ratings Off the pace: Albers Keko
- Market The shop window has Ahmed Eid in it
- Boardroom Baniyas keep producing them