“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 The request is on a desk at Aiglons, and it is not being withdrawn.
Issa Hassaballah 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 easiest signature of my career.” Abdoulaye Mbaiguedem and Aiglons agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Foullah Edifice have kept their man, and Aiglons go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Mohamed Atef 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Aiglons will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aiglons have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Stars Jeunes Talents had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 The request is on a desk at Aiglons, and it is not being withdrawn.
Aiglons asked and AS PSI 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 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 loan enquiry to Stars Jeunes Talents: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Foullah Edifice 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.
In brief
The dugoutTim Gallezot has become a man the manager trusts
“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 Aiglons, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ali Moustapha 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.
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.
Something was said to Yvan Aloukou and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Issa Ngaradoumbe has his answer from Aiglons; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
5 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.
Issa Ngaradoumbe 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.
“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.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
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 Idriss Hissein left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Aiglons close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 7 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aiglons have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. AS DGSSIE moved on, Hassan Mbaiguedem reports back to Aiglons, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS DGSSIE waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aiglons is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aiglons have done the hard part with Foullah Edifice, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Christian Ramadjingaye 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.
Aiglons asked and CotonTchad 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 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 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aigle Royal de Moungo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aigle Royal de Moungo can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aigle Royal de Moungo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aigle Royal de Moungo asked and Cotonsport Garoua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean François Popess Manguele 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.
Aigle Royal de Moungo have made the call to Canon Yaounde. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aigle Royal de Moungo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aigle Royal de Moungo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Aigle Royal de Moungo is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Okoli 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.
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.
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aigle Royal de Moungo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aigle Royal de Moungo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aigle Royal de Moungo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aigle Royal de Moungo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Okoli 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.
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aigle Royal de Moungo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
John Okoli 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Aigle Royal de Moungo would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aigle Royal de Moungo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aigle Royal de Moungo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
John Okoli 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Aigle Royal de Moungo, another week without a signature from Junior Titico Fanga.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
2 games now in a shape the manager was not using a month ago. Changing a formation is easy and keeping one is not, which is why the second of those is the part that tells you something.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Junior Titico Fanga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ambroise Dawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yvan Aloukou 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 John Okoli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 31 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aigle Royal de Moungo has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dynamo Douala left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
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 Nicolas Leclercq to a room that had heard them before.
2 games now in a shape the manager was not using a month ago. Changing a formation is easy and keeping one is not, which is why the second of those is the part that tells you something.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faouzi Touba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aigle Royal de Moungo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jan 2030
John Okoli 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.
Aigle Royal de Moungo asked and Cotonsport Garoua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Cotonsport Garoua: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to Stade Renard de Melong: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Dec 2029
John Okoli 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.
“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.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
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.” Nicolas Leclercq chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
“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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Olivier Kouoh Dicka 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.
1‑3 to Stade Renard de Melong, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Nov 2029
John Okoli 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.
“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.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
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 1‑3 Nicolas Leclercq left the room before anybody could ask which.
Fortuna Mfou next, and one man in the Aigle Royal de Moungo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Okoli 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Yvan Aloukou 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Nicolas Leclercq could afford to be generous.
Successful dribbles: 49. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aigle Royal de Moungo 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 Aigle Royal de Moungo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nicolas Leclercq after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Landry Kunde is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faouzi Touba 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 respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aigle Royal de Moungo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cotonsport Garoua have kept their man, and Aigle Royal de Moungo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean François Popess Manguele 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.
Yvan Aloukou 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.
Aigle Royal de Moungo have made the call to Fortuna Mfou. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aigle Royal de Moungo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutLucien Ntolo asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aigle Royal de Moungo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Gazelle Garoua waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aigle Royal de Moungo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
John Okoli 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cotonsport Garoua have kept their man, and Aigle Royal de Moungo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fortuna Mfou 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.
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 César Epoh is on it.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Faouzi Touba 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.
In brief
The dugoutYvan Aloukou knocks on the manager's door