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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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.
Kévin Nzokou 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yvan Djemba, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jacques Mbarga was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Fortuna Mfou dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. PWD Bamenda defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fortuna Mfou have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Clinton Abongmese is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Williams Yikat 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jacques Mbarga after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Marc Tsala Ndi 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 Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fortuna Mfou asked and Panthere du Nde said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Stade Renard de Melong 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fortuna Mfou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Still no offer on the table, and Jean Pierre Nguele Nkotto’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Fortuna Mfou people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Joseph Atangana 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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.
Stade Renard de Melong 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.
“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 Fortuna Mfou will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Fortuna Mfou have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Fortuna Mfou, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Canon Yaounde is saying, and nobody at Fortuna Mfou is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fortuna Mfou 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.
Cotonsport Garoua 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fortuna Mfou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fortuna Mfou lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Fortuna Mfou, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fortuna Mfou they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Joseph Atangana 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yvan Djemba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Fortuna Mfou enter the window
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fortuna Mfou lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Joseph Atangana 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Fortuna Mfou will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Fortuna Mfou. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutMichael Fokou knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Position 2, 49 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Junior Patrick Akongo Evouna and Fortuna Mfou agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than 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.
Philippe Essama 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 conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and George Alalabang has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fortuna Mfou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 2, 49 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Fortuna Mfou 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 Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fortuna Mfou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alex Mani Onguene has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastian Arnaud and Fortuna Mfou agree another 3 years.
Position 2, 49 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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.
Philippe Essama 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 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 Fortuna Mfou will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fortuna Mfou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Fortuna Mfou know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and George Alalabang has written the date down.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Junior Patrick Akongo Evouna did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A season average of 7.14 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Fortuna Mfou know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Joseph Atangana 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fortuna Mfou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Williams Yikat did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Fortuna Mfou have had the benefit of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fortuna Mfou lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 2, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Fortuna Mfou 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 Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Fortuna Mfou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Joseph Atangana 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 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.04 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou 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.
At 23 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Fortuna Mfou told Jerzino something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Jerzino
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabrice Olinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yvan Djemba 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 needed Fabrice Olinga to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Canon Yaounde, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fortuna Mfou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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 crowd waited for a goal that never came. Fauve Azur Elite defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Fortuna Mfou people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Yvan Djemba has, at Fortuna Mfou, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Canon Yaounde keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Williams Yikat 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panthere du Nde have kept their man, and Fortuna Mfou go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from US Forces Armees for Junior Patrick Akongo Evouna 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.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Joseph Atangana 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.
PWD Bamenda wanted more than $11.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabrice Olinga 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.