The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ange Elloh did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Ange Elloh 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.
Mamady Condé 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 Nov 2029
Words at AS Police training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Allamine 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.
He is 20 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.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdou Diene and AS Police agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Amadou Kouyate, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at AS Police 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Police will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Police people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Oumar Koné and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at AS Police training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Allamine 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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Police will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Police have lost him in all but the paperwork.
AS Police and Onze Createurs have settled on $82.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The phone has started ringing about Hassan Allamine again, and this time the name on the line is Afrique Foot Elite. AS Police are listening politely and promising nothing.
Oumar Koné 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mamady Condé is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Police will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Police can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moustapha Sidibé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Police the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Police this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at AS Police training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Allamine 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 phone has started ringing about Modibo Kone again, and this time the name on the line is US Bougouba. AS Police are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nobody at AS Police 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Police can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moustapha Sidibé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Police the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Police this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at AS Police training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassan Allamine 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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Police will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
$43.0K settles it between the clubs for Mama Dembélé
Onze Createurs have accepted the money. What AS Police do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brahim Sabaouni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Seydou Diallo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Police know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutAbdou Diene knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Police this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at AS Police training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahim Sabaouni 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Police is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Police this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Police know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Enzo Cadiou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Abdou Diene are not good
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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Amadou Kouyate after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mamady Condé is on it.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Police know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutAbdou Diene asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Police will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
AS Police and US Forces Armees have settled on $43.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Police can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Police 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 Hassan Allamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at AS Police 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.
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Police lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Police 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 Hassan Allamine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
25 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Amadou Kouyate left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at AS Police 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Moustapha Sidibé trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.