Marked for Eugene Amankwah
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Dec 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” US Bougouba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“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; US Bougouba are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Marked 8.95 — 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
A season average of 7.41 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match22 Dec 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Dec 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at US Bougouba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Dec 2029
“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.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
A performance of 9.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
Marked 9.20 — 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
6 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Tohirbek Yo'ldoshev 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Akmal Ahmadov, and the manager let it.
Market17 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. US Bougouba know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Nov 2029
1‑4 against Real Bamako, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market26 Nov 2029
“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 US Bougouba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Nov 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Daniel Graskoski knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Mnqobi Mzize gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom26 Nov 2029
Nobody left the US Bougouba dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad26 Nov 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lassana Kante and US Bougouba agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Nov 2029
“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 US Bougouba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Mamoutou Berthé 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 Nov 2029
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
A performance of 9.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match17 Nov 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mamoutou Berthé. 1‑0 against AS Bakaridjan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Ochieng, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Nov 2029
At 17 years old, Lassana Kante became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Market19 Nov 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. US Bougouba know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2029
A 1‑0 win over US Bougouni, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad5 Nov 2029
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mnqobi Mzize commits to US Bougouba for another 4 years.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Mamoutou Berthé 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 ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Sunday Adehi
“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.
Match3 Nov 2029
It needed Eugene Amankwah to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Etoiles du Mande, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match27 Oct 2029
0‑3 against Stade Malien, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” US Bougouba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Stephen Wisdom 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“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.
Boardroom29 Oct 2029
Nobody left the US Bougouba dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Taniela Rakariva 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.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Marked 5.43, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at US Bougouba has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 Sep 2029
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Modibo Kone reports back to US Bougouba with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Akmal Ahmadov commits to US Bougouba for another 3 years.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Stephen Wisdom 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at US Bougouba, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Moussa Tamboura, and the manager let it.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
US Bougouba pull $280.5K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market3 Sep 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Eugene Amankwah’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market3 Sep 2029
The clock does Itay Hazut’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee US Bougouba could ask drops and the wages Itay Hazut can ask rise.
In brief
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Market
The window shut and Kwanele Msomi is still in the building
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Boardroom
The US Bougouba production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Jul 2029
“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 US Bougouba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Jul 2029
AS Police come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and US Bougouba did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Eugene Amankwah commits to US Bougouba for another 4 years.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Market30 Jul 2029
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what US Bougouba could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market2 Jul 2029
Itay Hazut hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Jul 2029
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. US Bougouba will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad2 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Daniel Graskoski 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.
Market2 Jul 2029
The clock does Williams Wonah’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee US Bougouba could ask drops and the wages Williams Wonah can ask rise.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
$280.5K taken back off the US Bougouba table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market2 Jul 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eugene Amankwah signs something — a contract at US Bougouba or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market2 Jul 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kwanele Msomi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Daouda Bagayoko has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at US Bougouba can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” US Bougouba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jun 2029
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Loan watch4 Jun 2029
“I watch every US Bougouba game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Djoliba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market4 Jun 2029
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs US Bougouba money.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$280.5K taken back off the US Bougouba table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“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
Uneasy
Squad5 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Daouda Bagayoko has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad5 Mar 2029
A season average of 7.61 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market5 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Bougouba is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Mamoutou Berthé 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 ratings5 Mar 2029
Marked 9.27 — 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.
Match3 Mar 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mamoutou Berthé. 2‑0 against FC Diarra, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Itay Hazut, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad5 Feb 2029
A season average of 7.61 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market5 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at US Bougouba is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match3 Feb 2029
A 5‑4 win over Etoiles du Mande, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Marked 9.20 — 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.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Marked 9.20 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 40, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match23 Dec 2028
11 matches without a win for US Bougouba
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around US Bougouba are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market25 Dec 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 US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Dec 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around US Bougouba they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Mamoutou Berthé
7 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Itay Hazut, and the manager let it.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Oct 2028
Itay Hazut hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Oct 2028
3‑4 to US Bougouni, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Marked 8.30 — 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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Oct 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nhlonipho Mtshali trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad23 Oct 2028
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market23 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mamoutou Berthé’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Oct 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 US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Oct 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Match14 Oct 2028
Three points for US Bougouba, 3‑1 the final word against Djoliba in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Marked 8.99 — 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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Marked 8.78 — 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sandile Ndlovu, and the manager let it.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amadou Sissoko and US Bougouba agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Feb 2028
12 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.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Pressure builds in the US Bougouba boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market28 Feb 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Mamoutou Berthé 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 ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Glen Masava gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at US Bougouba pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Feb 2028
10 matches without a win for US Bougouba
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around US Bougouba are no longer polite ones.
Match14 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for US Bougouba
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market14 Feb 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.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
No hiding place for Faiz Amem
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Faiz Amem, and the manager let it.
Market14 Feb 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. US Bougouba will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Abdoul Bode 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.