From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Hassan Al-Ahmadi has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Fayha can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Fayha can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Fayha
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ziyad Al-Refaei and Al-Fayha agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Yassine Benzia. Al-Fayha will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Sattam Al-Ruqi knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Fayha, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market3 Apr 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Khaled Al-Rammah may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market3 Apr 2028
No fee and no drama: Ziyad Al-Refaei has signed at Al-Fayha, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Fayha they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Omar Abdullah and Al-Fayha agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market13 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Fayha know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Omar Abdullah asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market13 Mar 2028
Al-Fayha have made Amadou Bamba available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yassine Benzia and Al-Fayha agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Fayha, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Roman Durko is not saying it is over
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 34 with 6 appearances behind him, and Al-Fayha have to plan for both answers.
Market6 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Saud Haroun may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rakan Kaabi and Al-Fayha agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Amadou Bamba, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market26 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Fayha know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jul 2027
“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.
Loan watch19 Jul 2027
“I did not go to Al-Nahda to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Fayha and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Amadou Bamba commits to Al-Fayha for another 3 years.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Mansor Al-Beshe
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market19 Jul 2027
The Lucas talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Fayha know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Al-Baraa Adawi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Al-Diriyah come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Fayha did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Jul 2027
The paperwork is done: Amadou Bamba joins from Al-Hazem in a deal worth $110.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
194% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Fayha
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Fayha know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.