Marked for Sabo Gambo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Joel Mabouka has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market3 May 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 The request is on a desk at Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gazelle Garoua they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout3 May 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 May 2027
Mahman Nourou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 2027
Marius Obekop without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Marius Obekop was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout3 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Housseini Ousmanou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Housseini Ousmanou’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market3 May 2027
Gazelle Garoua have let the market know Wanre Daikreo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Mar 2027
The mood at Gazelle Garoua has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match1 Mar 2027
Position 14, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match27 Feb 2027
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Gazelle Garoua are no longer polite ones.
Match1 Mar 2027
The season ends: position 14 for Gazelle Garoua
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 19 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Gazelle Garoua
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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; Gazelle Garoua are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Dave Tessa 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Gazelle Garoua's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gazelle Garoua has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 Feb 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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Nobody could get near Sabo Gambo
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Feb 2027
Maël Monyebe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Feb 2027
Dynamo Douala left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Housseini Ousmanou, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 0‑2 Joel Mabouka left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Maël Monyebe 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 terraces15 Feb 2027
The crowd has taken to Sabo Gambo
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Maël Monyebe 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Sabo Gambo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
Looking ahead15 Feb 2027
Dynamo Douala next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wanre Daikreo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Feb 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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gazelle Garoua they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match6 Feb 2027
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match6 Feb 2027
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Gazelle Garoua can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Sabo Gambo runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match6 Feb 2027
0‑2 to Fortuna Mfou, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead8 Feb 2027
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Joel Mabouka after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Wanre Daikreo 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
Crisis
Match1 Feb 2027
Position 14, 18 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match30 Jan 2027
0‑3 against Stade Renard de Melong, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market1 Feb 2027
US Bougouni come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Gazelle Garoua did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Feb 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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match30 Jan 2027
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Gazelle Garoua are no longer polite ones.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Gazelle Garoua until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Match30 Jan 2027
5 matches without a goal for Gazelle Garoua
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Sabo Gambo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gazelle Garoua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Dave Tessa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Cotonsport Garoua: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Canon Yaounde. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ange Constant Kenfack was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Gazelle Garoua
Position 12 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The season belongs to Sabo Gambo
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 Gazelle Garoua have had the benefit of it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Fauve Azur Elite, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Maël Monyebe in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wanre Daikreo 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
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad28 Dec 2026
Maël Monyebe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Sabo Gambo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Gazelle Garoua.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Sabo Gambo at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gazelle Garoua.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Colbert Binni
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Maël Monyebe is the weekend's best young player
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match12 Dec 2026
Abiola Dauda had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Aigle Royal de Moungo were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Market14 Dec 2026
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
At 38 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.48, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dave Tessa and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Francky Manga 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 terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sabo Gambo 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Sabo Gambo at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gazelle Garoua.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Eden Creol 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Nov 2026
Nobody wants to play Gazelle Garoua right now
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.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dave Tessa in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
The crowd has taken to Prat Manyo
At 20 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sabo Gambo. 2‑0 against Dynamo Douala, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Wanre Daikreo 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.” Joel Mabouka, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Nov 2026
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Abiola Dauda, 38, rolls back the years — 7.84
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match14 Nov 2026
Nobody wants to play Gazelle Garoua right now
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Maël Monyebe 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 terraces16 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Sabo Gambo at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gazelle Garoua.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Sony Farell Evina at 20 — 8.63
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sony Farell Evina did not need any: 8.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Maël Monyebe in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Sabo Gambo
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Joel Mabouka on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match31 Oct 2026
It had gone 9 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Sabo Gambo runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sabo Gambo 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Marius Obekop makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Joel Mabouka could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Oct 2026
Gazelle Garoua are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Djakao Barka is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Sabo Gambo
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match17 Oct 2026
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Gazelle Garoua can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Wanre Daikreo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
PWD Bamenda left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jacques Kotto and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Eden Creol
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
A row about effort at Gazelle Garoua
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Oct 2026
Francky Manga 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 Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.80 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match3 Oct 2026
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Gazelle Garoua are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Arsene Mekila is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match3 Oct 2026
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dave Tessa 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Wanre Daikreo, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
The step up is real for Dave Tessa
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Gazelle Garoua's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gazelle Garoua has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Maël Monyebe 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Panthere du Nde left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Sabo Gambo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wanre Daikreo 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Gazelle Garoua have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Saidou Nouhou
“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
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The deal with Stade Renard de Melong is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fortuna Mfou have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Dave Tessa 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Sabo Gambo needs a bigger stage
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Gazelle Garoua know which stage they are at.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ange Constant Kenfack was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.