“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 The request is on a desk at Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 Apr 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Renaissance know 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 Renaissance 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.
20 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Oumar 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.
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.
19 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Galactik tried to reorganise, Renaissance did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“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 Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.27 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Youssef Dalouzi provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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 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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Elect Sport kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Renaissance will be asked about the last half hour all 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 Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Foullah Edifice will make the call about Moussa Ndoram this week. Renaissance have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
17 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.65 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Oumar 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.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“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; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
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 Renaissance have had the benefit of it.
4 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 Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 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 Renaissance know it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Renaissance scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. AS DGSSIE will replay every second of the added time for a week.
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.27 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 21 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Zakaria Ajoughlal provided it, and the 8.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A season average of 7.10 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Renaissance know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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.
In brief
Boardroom87% of the income goes out in wages at Renaissance
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
“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; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssef Dalouzi 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mathieu Adoassou signs something — a contract at Renaissance or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 1, 24 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Oumar 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.
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.
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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 Renaissance know it.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Renaissance and US Moursal, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
8 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Oumar 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.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Renaissance know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Marked 8.41 — 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.
In brief
Player ratingsYoussef Dalouzi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
BoardroomWages eat 88% of everything Renaissance earn
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
7 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Mathieu Adoassou 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 Nov 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 21 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance 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 Renaissance 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Renaissance. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
“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 Renaissance know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A 3‑1 win over Aiglons, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssef Dalouzi 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 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 Renaissance know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
9 goals in one match, Youssef Dalouzi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Renaissance and AS Etat Major.
Oumar 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.
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 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 Renaissance know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
“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; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ousmane Hissein is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Renaissance know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance 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 Renaissance 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Andika Wisnu was one of the reasons people came, and $48.0K does not replace that by itself.
“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 Renaissance know it.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
Andika Wisnu has left for CotonTchad in a $48.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
In brief
Boardroom94% of the income goes out in wages at Renaissance
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 110th minute. CotonTchad will replay every second of the added time for a week.
A season average of 7.16 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Renaissance know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
8.38. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.16, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Youssef Dalouzi 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 May 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
108% of the income goes out in wages at Renaissance
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Amine El Maswab's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Ousmane Hissein’s exile
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance 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 Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
“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; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Youssef Dalouzi 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 Mar 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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 1 with 59 on the board, and the queues outside the ticket office are the part of a promotion push that never shows up in a table. The town has decided this one is real.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.26 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 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.
A season average of 7.14 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Renaissance know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mathieu Adoassou and Renaissance agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Galactik will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Renaissance were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
“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; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A mark of 8.18 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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.
In brief
Boardroom131% of the income goes out in wages at Renaissance
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 21 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.
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.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.05 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Renaissance know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Youssef Dalouzi 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 Feb 2027
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Renaissance scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
7 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 words a physio says slowly. 104 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A mark of 8.52 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.04, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 12 goals between Renaissance and AS Etat Major, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.28 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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. Renaissance will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
6 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
“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 Renaissance know it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Renaissance and AS Algoy, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 1, 31 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.
1‑4 against CotonTchad, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
There were 6 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Mirkamol Annamatov 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.
133 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renaissance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Renaissance have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match12 Dec 2026
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Renaissance. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Zakaria Ajoughlal provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
159% of the income goes out in wages at Renaissance
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.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsYoussef Dalouzi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Stars Jeunes Talents will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Renaissance were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov did not need any: 8.37, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Fazliddin Zuhriddinov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
Player ratingsZakaria Ajoughlal was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mahamat Ali Hassan provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Zakaria Ajoughlal provided it, and the 8.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Renaissance and US Moursal in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zakaria Ajoughlal. 4‑2 against US Moursal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match14 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Renaissance. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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; Renaissance are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Renaissance did not have in the autumn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ajoughlal 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mathieu Adoassou signs something — a contract at Renaissance or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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.
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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
159% of the income goes out in wages at Renaissance
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Elect Sport? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Youssef Dalouzi provided it, and the 8.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Renaissance have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 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.
Zakaria Ajoughlal 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.
A 2‑0 win over Foullah Edifice, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Renaissance know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mahamat Ali Hassan provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
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.
Bicto Tyonga 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Aiglons tried to reorganise, Renaissance did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Youssef Dalouzi at his very best
The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.44 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Marked 7.83. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 goals in one match, Youssef Dalouzi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Renaissance and AS Algoy.
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The words a physio says slowly. 136 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.
Youssef Dalouzi 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
In brief
SquadWords at Renaissance training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 171 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.
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.
Bicto Tyonga 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 words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
The bid was some way short and Renaissance did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssef Dalouzi 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.
In brief
Squad7 new faces, and Renaissance are still learning each other
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: AS PSI have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ousmane Hissein. The answer from Renaissance has not changed — yet.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Renaissance, another week without a signature from Félix Djoubairou.