23 matches without a win, and then this, against Dynamo Douala. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Mahman Nourou, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.70
A mark of 7.70 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 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
21 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
16 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Victoria United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
13 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 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 Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gazelle Garoua ran out of time with Fortuna Mfou. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aigle Royal de la Menoua waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gazelle Garoua will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Mbeumo and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fabrice Olinga signs something — a contract at Gazelle Garoua or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutMarcus Kouam asks for a word with the manager
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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Gazelle Garoua is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Gazelle Garoua were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gazelle Garoua told Raphael Tchaptchet something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Joseph Tombi has his answer from Gazelle Garoua; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gazelle Garoua will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francky Manga and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aigle Royal de Moungo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gazelle Garoua will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Dynamo Douala; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colombe du Dja et Lobo have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Francky Manga 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“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.
The deal with PWD Bamenda 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.
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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gazelle Garoua will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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.
“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.
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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Marcel Ntcham has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Arsene Mekila and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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 Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Fabrice Dawa is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Francky Manga 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Gazelle Garoua. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Gazelle Garoua and Cotonsport Garoua in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Maël Monyebe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kendry Domingo and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Marcel Ntcham to a room that had heard them before.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Gazelle Garoua know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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.” Marcel Ntcham chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
1‑5 to Dynamo Douala, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
6 goals in one match, Colbert Binni on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Gazelle Garoua and Dynamo Douala.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Colbert Binni 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.
9 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Marcus Kouam has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marcel Ntcham after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Maël Monyebe is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
The dugoutArnaud Bekale asks for a word with the manager
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gazelle Garoua lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
6 goals in one match, Fabrice Olinga on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Gazelle Garoua and Victoria United.
“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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marcel Ntcham after 2‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ogino Zeukang is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marcel Ntcham after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
Squad18 Sep 2028
The division's best last weekend was a Gazelle Garoua man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Fabrice Olinga was the best thing in any of them.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gazelle Garoua have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 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 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
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 Saidou Nouhou is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Joseph Tombi a promise
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gazelle Garoua 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 Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francky Manga commits to Gazelle Garoua for another 4 years.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cotonsport Garoua is saying, and nobody at Gazelle Garoua is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Gazelle Garoua. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Maël Monyebe has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Position 7 on 36 points, with the season drifting toward the summer. It is the safest place in football and the hardest one to sell a season ticket from.
“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 offer from Fauve Azur Elite for Saidou Nouhou was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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.” Marcel Fobang and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
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.
Squad15 May 2028
Francky Manga 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua 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.
“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.
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.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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 respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Dave Tessa’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gazelle Garoua will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gazelle Garoua have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Francky Manga 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Joseph Tombi a promise
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gazelle Garoua will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Daniel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Dave Tessa and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua 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 conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Joseph Tombi has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutCedric Mongo knocks on the manager's door
SquadThe training reports on Maël Monyebe are not good
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francky Manga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Franck Siani and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gazelle Garoua have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marius Kalgong and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francky Manga 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Marcus Kouam is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Gazelle Garoua. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Unisport Bafang waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Panthere du Nde moved on, Saidou Nouhou reports back to Gazelle Garoua, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A season average of 7.39 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Arsene Mekila, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.86
A mark of 7.86 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.
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.
At 15 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Francky Manga 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.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Fauve Azur Elite had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Gazelle Garoua did not stop to explain themselves.
“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.
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 terraces24 Jan 2028
Gazelle Garoua spend $84.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $84.0K for Cedric Mongo, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Fabrice Olinga. 2‑1 against Fauve Azur Elite, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Colbert Binni did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
5 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colombe du Dja et Lobo have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Colbert Binni did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
4 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maël Monyebe and Gazelle Garoua agree another 5 years.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dave Tessa, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Gazelle Garoua will try not to make too much of it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Marcel Ntcham after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maël Monyebe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutPrat Manyo has become a man the manager trusts