Koffi Ayivi 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.
Next up on the road: Renaissance, position 9. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Dylan Achimi, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.16
A mark of 8.16 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gazelle have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Successful dribbles: 43. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gazelle have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Koffi Ayivi is living that version at Gazelle, and it tends to show in the first month.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dylan Achimi did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Gazelle will try not to make too much of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
At 18 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohamed Chennah. 2‑0 against Galactik, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout26 Oct 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.” Marius Ndoram, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gazelle lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Dylan Achimi, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 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.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.99 beside his name.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Dylan Achimi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Dylan Achimi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Gazelle.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Marius Ndoram kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Hamza Asrir 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Gazelle have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Issa Abakar is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
9 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.
César Abaya 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.
US Moursal next, and one man in the Gazelle dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought 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 Gazelle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adam Djimet has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oumar Abba has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
Squad8 new faces, and Gazelle are still learning each other
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $51.0K — a club that wants Youssouf Youssouf enough to be asked twice.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gazelle have done the hard part with Stars Jeunes Talents, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is saying, and nobody at Gazelle is enjoying the guessing.
Imad Rqioui 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 offer went to US Moursal this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Gazelle asked and Stars Jeunes Talents said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mohamed Chennah is living that version at Gazelle, and it tends to show in the first month.
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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Gazelle are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Still no offer on the table, and Hassane Boudina’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Ali Djimet is in the works