The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Canon Yaounde people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ako Assomo 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.
Canon Yaounde asked and Hasaacas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
Player ratingsSabo Gambo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Canon Yaounde lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Canon Yaounde have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Canon Yaounde they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Canon Yaounde had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Stade Malien, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sabo Gambo 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.
Sabo Gambo wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Sabo Gambo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Victoria United went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Canon Yaounde can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Nathan Doualla, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74
A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Canon Yaounde 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Junior Dande and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Ako Assomo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Fortuna Mfou waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
“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 Canon Yaounde, and it is not being withdrawn.
Canon Yaounde had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ashanti Gold, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde 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 Sabo Gambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Stade Malien have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Modibo Sissoko is in the works
“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 Canon Yaounde, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Fortuna Mfou spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Canon Yaounde people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The bid was some way short and Canon Yaounde did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Nathan Doualla, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Canon Yaounde they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franck Assiga Edoa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Canon Yaounde the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Junior Dande 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 Dec 2026
Sabo Gambo 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.
“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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Joel Moukoudi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Canon Yaounde will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Stade Renard de Melong? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Canon Yaounde have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde 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.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Junior Dande 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Sabo Gambo 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Zacharie Ndongo Foé 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sabo Gambo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michel Embolo and Canon Yaounde agree another 3 years.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Joel Moukoudi after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Zacharie Ebogo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Canon Yaounde the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Junior Dande and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ako Assomo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juste Koulou. 1‑0 against Dynamo Douala, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“I watch every Canon Yaounde game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Victoria United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout9 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 Moukoudi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Karim Bello
“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 Canon Yaounde, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Canon Yaounde they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Ako Assomo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Canon Yaounde, and 3 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Herman Tchakounte is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Canon Yaounde they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Canon Yaounde can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde 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 Sabo Gambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Joel Moukoudi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Canon Yaounde can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Junior Dande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sabo Gambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Joel Moukoudi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jean Ousama is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ako Assomo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Canon Yaounde go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
8.36. 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.
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 8.08 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Canon Yaounde they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Malien have kept their man, and Canon Yaounde go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sabo Gambo 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Canon Yaounde, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Unisport Bafang waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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 Canon Yaounde, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Hasaacas keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Canon Yaounde asked and Djoliba said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Bangfome was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Canon Yaounde have made the call to Stade Malien. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bayelsa United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Panthere du Nde had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Canon Yaounde have done the hard part with Stade Malien, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Junior Dande and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Ako Assomo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.