The words a physio says slowly. 111 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Achille Fokem and Unisport Bafang agree another 2 years.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Unisport Bafang, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang can pretend not to have heard.
Silas Nwankwo 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Franck Tientcheu and Unisport Bafang agree another 2 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kabelo Moagi and Unisport Bafang agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Franck Tientcheu 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.
Nobody at Unisport Bafang 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.
Silas Nwankwo 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 had been thinking. Armel Ndong Nze 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Silas Nwankwo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Unisport Bafang scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Unisport Bafang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Silas Nwankwo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 2‑1 win over Aigle Royal de Moungo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this 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.
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. Unisport Bafang know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
1‑4 to Aigle Royal de la Menoua, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang can pretend not to have heard.
Franck Tientcheu 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang can pretend not to have heard.
Silas Nwankwo 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Unisport Bafang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Franck Tientcheu and Unisport Bafang agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Silas Nwankwo 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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Ngameni. 1‑0 against Panthere du Nde, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
16 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang can pretend not to have heard.
Silas Nwankwo 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Bayanda Zulu knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Franck Tientcheu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.72, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Unisport Bafang know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Unisport Bafang lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Silas Nwankwo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 73 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kazobar Kasongo and Unisport Bafang agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Andre Mabouka is 19, and Unisport Bafang have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJames Tendoh falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadBayanda Zulu has become a man the manager trusts
Kabelo Moagi damages knee ligaments — 101 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 101 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Kabelo Moagi damages knee ligaments — 108 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 108 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Kabelo Moagi damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Siyabonga Mkhize will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Unisport Bafang the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nitai Greis and Unisport Bafang agree another 4 years.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 3, 45 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nitai Greis and Unisport Bafang agree another 4 years.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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.” Unisport Bafang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJames Tendoh falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Mar 2033
James Tendoh 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
19 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad28 Feb 2033
James Tendoh 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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.” Unisport Bafang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Siyabonga Mkhize will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Unisport Bafang the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Silas Nwankwo 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 had been thinking. James Tendoh 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Unisport Bafang pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Tony Ngani Kameni leaves Unisport Bafang the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jean Toko-Ekambi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2033
James Tendoh 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 name of Tony Ngani Kameni has come up in conversations Unisport Bafang were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2033
James Tendoh 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Nitai Greis.
Position 3, 32 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.22 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Silas Nwankwo 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 had been thinking. James Tendoh 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 2‑0 win over Gazelle Garoua, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. David Ogbe Apeh has come out of that comparison in the side, and Unisport Bafang have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Silas Nwankwo 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 had been thinking. James Tendoh 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2032
James Tendoh 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.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
Silas Nwankwo 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 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.
It needed David Ogbe Apeh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fortuna Mfou, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Position 3, 23 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2032
James Tendoh 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andre Aboubakar and Unisport Bafang agree another 3 years.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Two goals and a mark of 8.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2032
James Tendoh 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2032
James Tendoh 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.
13 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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Canon Yaounde? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
Silas Nwankwo 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 had been thinking. James Tendoh is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.12 — 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Aigle Royal de Moungo will replay every second of the added time for a week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Unisport Bafang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Silas Nwankwo 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.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Ogbe Apeh. 1‑0 against Gazelle Garoua, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Unisport Bafang know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
1 for Aderemi Adeoye, marked 7.51, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“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 Unisport Bafang, 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 Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
James Tendoh 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.
Silas Nwankwo 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 had been thinking. James Tendoh 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 goal that put Dynamo Douala ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Unisport Bafang equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Aigle Royal de Moungo moved on, Tony Ngani Kameni reports back to Unisport Bafang, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Achille Fokem. 2‑1 against Aigle Royal de la Menoua, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
The deal that would have taken Siyabonga Mkhize to Victoria United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Unisport Bafang with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Silas Nwankwo 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.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Tendoh 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.” Mohamed El Shenawy and Unisport Bafang agree another 2 years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Unisport Bafang know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Unisport Bafang lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2032
James Tendoh 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.