Marked for Alon Ben-Ami
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Turendran Kumar
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market26 Jun 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Azamat Soyibov 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Issa Allamine commits to Galactik for another 1 years.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Dickson Sakabutu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Galactik 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
Galactik bring in an old head
Issa Allamine is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Turendran Kumar
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jun 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 Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 May 2028
Azamat Soyibov 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 May 2028
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ally Yusuf 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.
Squad29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Epton, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 May 2028
Alon Ben-Ami 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 May 2028
Azamat Soyibov 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ally Yusuf 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Dickson Sakabutu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Galactik 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Dickson Sakabutu 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.
Market1 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Galactik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Ousmane Biani 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anare Naitura 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Azamat Soyibov 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 Apr 2028
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ally Yusuf 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Apr 2028
Alon Ben-Ami 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Azamat Soyibov 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 Apr 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Mar 2028
Still nobody has beaten Galactik
The unbeaten run reaches 15. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Age has not caught Ousmane Biani yet — 7.82
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Galactik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Abanga Mahamat Youssouf 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
A 2‑1 win over AS Algoy, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Alon Ben-Ami 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ousmane Biani signs something — a contract at Galactik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Galactik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Azamat Soyibov and Galactik agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Feb 2028
Still nobody has beaten Galactik
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market14 Feb 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Feb 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 Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Ally Yusuf 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
11 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Azamat Soyibov has given nobody the chance.
Squad14 Feb 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Galactik pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match12 Feb 2028
Point won or two lost for Galactik?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against AS PSI? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ousmane Biani signs something — a contract at Galactik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Jan 2028
Still nobody has beaten Galactik
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market24 Jan 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jan 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 Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ally Yusuf 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Alon Ben-Ami
“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.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Marked 7.89. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match22 Jan 2028
A 1‑1 draw with US Moursal leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dickson Sakabutu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
5.55 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jan 2028
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match8 Jan 2028
Whatever happens, Galactik do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Azamat Soyibov 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 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezechiel Oumar, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Jan 2028
60 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“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; Galactik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.56 on the card, and the Galactik support went home talking about one name.
Match8 Jan 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market10 Jan 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Turendran Kumar has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Galactik.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Ally Yusuf 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“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.
Match11 Dec 2027
No time for AS Algoy to settle
The goal that put AS Algoy ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Galactik equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
7.43, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Galactik had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match11 Dec 2027
A 1‑1 draw with AS Algoy leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad13 Dec 2027
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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. 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
Squad15 Nov 2027
Marius Tokindang damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Turendran Kumar out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Galactik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Nov 2027
The goals have deserted Galactik
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Galactik can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Ally Yusuf 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.
Match13 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Marked 5.15, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
A mark of 5.20 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Turendran Kumar out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Galactik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Sep 2027
Tushal Kumar 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Alon Ben-Ami is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Turendran Kumar out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Galactik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hasanboy Tojiboyev commits to Galactik for another 4 years.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
$30.2K on the table at Galactik
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Turendran Kumar out for 105 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Galactik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alon Ben-Ami is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jul 2027
The paperwork is done: Idriss Moustapha joins from AS Algoy in a deal worth $6.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Abanga Mahamat Youssouf 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Ally Yusuf 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
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 Galactik have had the benefit of it.
Market5 Jul 2027
Tushal Kumar 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Azamat Soyibov 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alon Ben-Ami, and the manager let it.
Market5 Jul 2027
2 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2027
Azamat Soyibov 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The shop window has Alon Ben-Ami in it
Galactik have let the market know Alon Ben-Ami can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ousmane Biani
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
Azamat Soyibov 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 Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ousmane Biani damages knee ligaments — 44 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Azamat Soyibov 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ousmane Biani damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Match7 Apr 2027
Galactik bow out of the cup
AS PSI go through and Galactik go home, 0‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market12 Apr 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.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 12 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
A cup hiding at AS PSI leaves Galactik explaining themselves
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Benjamin Ngakoutou 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
Nobody left the Galactik 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Ousmane Biani damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Adam Allamine out for 36 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Galactik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match27 Feb 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Galactik did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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 Galactik know it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Renaissance, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Marked 7.51. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.