Marked for Abderrahmane Bacha
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 May 2030
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paradou lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad20 May 2030
Sunday Kalu breaks a bone — 104 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout20 May 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad20 May 2030
Adel Bouzida 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.
Boardroom20 May 2030
ES Ben Aknoun will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nassim Yattou has pre-agreed a move to Paradou, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad20 May 2030
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ouanisse Bouzahzah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 May 2030
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 Taha Yassine Tahar is on it.
The dugout20 May 2030
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Paradou told Jorginho Soares something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout20 May 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abderrahmane Bacha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 May 2030
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paradou lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market13 May 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Paradou, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout13 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Paradou may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 May 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paradou they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 May 2030
Words exchanged at Paradou
Adel Bouzida 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 dugout13 May 2030
“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.
Squad13 May 2030
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Alili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 May 2030
Adel Bouzida has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Paradou 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.
The dugout13 May 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abderrahmane Bacha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Apr 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market15 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paradou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Words exchanged at Paradou
Adel Bouzida 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ouanisse Bouzahzah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Paradou are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
Adel Bouzida gets picked when it counts
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 Adel Bouzida is on it.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hamza Yacoub, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Apr 2030
Mamadou Ndiaye knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paradou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Apr 2030
The name of Abderrahmane Bacha keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Paradou say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Mar 2030
Paradou win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. ASO Chlef will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match25 Mar 2030
Paradou finish in position 4
59 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad25 Mar 2030
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Paradou may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match23 Mar 2030
Nobody wants to play Paradou right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Adel Bouzida 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.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Abderrahmane Bacha was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.59. 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.
Match23 Mar 2030
A 3‑2 win over ASO Chlef, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Paradou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ouanisse Bouzahzah is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match2 Feb 2030
The run at home goes on for Paradou
19 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Market4 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paradou can pretend not to have heard.
Match2 Feb 2030
Whatever happens, Paradou do not lose
9 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.
The dugout4 Feb 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Paradou may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Window shuts: 6 in, 6 out at Paradou
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad4 Feb 2030
A falling-out at Paradou
Adel Bouzida and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Feb 2030
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Paradou will try again when the window opens; JS Saoura may not be selling by then.
Squad4 Feb 2030
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ouanisse Bouzahzah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match2 Feb 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mustapha Soukkou. 1‑0 against ES Mostaganem, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Jan 2030
Cup progress for Paradou
A 1‑0 win over ES Setif, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match5 Jan 2030
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market7 Jan 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Jan 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Jan 2030
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Paradou had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mohamed Lamine Tahar scored, was marked 7.98, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The dugout7 Jan 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words exchanged at Paradou
Mamadou Ndiaye 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.
Transfer targets7 Jan 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
In brief
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Player ratings
Amady Gadio was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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Squad
Tarek Bousseder reaches 51 shut-outs
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Player ratings
Adel Bouzida was on a different afternoon to everybody else