Al Shabab go through and Sharjah go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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 8.06 — 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.
Half the programme played, position 5, 21 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Abdullah Al Junaibi 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sharjah heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Firas Ben Larbi provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mohamed Nader kept it short after the 4‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leandrinho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al Wahda in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Sharjah would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Sharjah will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Sharjah have no good answer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mohamed Nader after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
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.
Nobody at Sharjah 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sharjah can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Ismail Khalfan could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.30
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.30, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sharjah heard it as anything else.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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.
Majed Hassan 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sharjah can pretend not to have heard.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.37 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
6 goals in one match, Igor Coronado on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Sharjah and Al Fujairah.
Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sharjah.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mohamed Nader kept it short after the 6‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Mayed Saeed
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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Sharjah and Al Wasl in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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.
Sharjah asked and Al-Ra'ed said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Luan Pereira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
Beaten 6 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Sharjah have gone to Al Jazira with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
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.
Sharjah asked and Levante said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Maro Katinić 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sharjah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Mayed Saeed 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sharjah know it.
“I watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dibba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Majed Al Suwaidi signs something — a contract at Sharjah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutLeandrinho asks for a word with the manager
Al Wasl have accepted the money. What Sharjah do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sharjah 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 Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sharjah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Qadisiyah have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Bahia for Leandrinho 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.
The offer went to Al Jazira 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Arshia Sarshogh is on it.
In brief
SquadMats Bångsbo has seen what the next man earns
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Jazira have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Sharjah have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
Rafael Pereira 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.
“I watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dibba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sharjah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Sharjah have gone to Al Ahli with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Sharjah have gone to Al Jazira with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Sharjah offered $810.0K; Al Jazira said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sharjah can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Maro Katinić 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.
Sharjah have made the call to Al-Qadisiyah. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
$2.7M on the table at Al Jazira. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sharjah can pretend not to have heard.
Sharjah asked and Al Ain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The chase for Tahnoon Hamdan ended with $520.0K changing hands and Al Wasl out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Majed Al Suwaidi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Firas Ben Larbi 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.
Sharjah and Al Ain have settled on $3.3M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Jazira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Everything agreed with Al Jazira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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.
Emirates Club pay $100.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sharjah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Charles Pickel 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Firas Ben Larbi 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.
3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Sharjah no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khaled Tawhid will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sharjah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Charles Pickel 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Firas Ben Larbi 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Saldanha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Sharjah have no good answer.
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.
Majed Al Suwaidi 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Leandrinho wants continental football; whether Sharjah can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sharjah know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sharjah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sharjah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sharjah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sharjah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sharjah know it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sharjah will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sharjah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sharjah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sharjah heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Majed Hassan 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sharjah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sharjah told Feta Fetai something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sharjah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Shaab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Khaled Ebraheim signs something — a contract at Sharjah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sharjah 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sharjah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Majed Al Suwaidi 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.
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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sharjah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luan Pereira. 2‑1 against Al Ahli, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mayed Saeed has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Saldanha 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Leandrinho wants continental football; whether Sharjah can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sharjah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He is 21 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Al Wahda the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Sharjah will enjoy reviewing.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.36 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Kodjo Laba 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.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Léo Azevedo has his answer from Sharjah; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
Boardroom85% of the income goes out in wages at Sharjah
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Igor Coronado 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sharjah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Sharjah asked and Al Nasr said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sharjah can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sharjah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Jazira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Sharjah asked and Al Dhafra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohamed Nader after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutNo place for Majid Rashid on the big day
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Leandrinho
The clubs have shaken hands with Al Jazira; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.37 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Leandrinho did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sharjah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Jazira have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 21 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.
The offer from Al Fujairah for Ousmane Camara 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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Sharjah will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
At 34 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ain have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.46 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Saldanha 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.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sharjah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Sharjah training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sharjah can pretend not to have heard.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sharjah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Firas Ben Larbi. 1‑0 against Baniyas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sharjah know it.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.04 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.
A 1‑0 win over Al Wasl, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mohamed Nader kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Al Fujairah next, and one man in the Sharjah dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Leandrinho has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sharjah has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sharjah have gone to Al Ahli with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $4.3M — a club that wants Bandar Al Menhali enough to be asked twice.
Charles Pickel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rashed Humaid Al-Blooshi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.