17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Victoria United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United 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: Brayann Nana. 3‑2 against Dynamo Douala, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean Marie Dongou 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 Victoria United 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 Victoria United can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Raphaël Anaba has come up in conversations Victoria United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 26 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. Jean Marie Dongou 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 Victoria United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Wilfried Bilongo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Serge Bogam will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Victoria United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Victoria United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Victoria United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Victoria United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mohamed Niaré 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 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 easiest signature of my career.” Frédérick Ntsama and Victoria United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Marcel Bassogog has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jean Marie Dongou 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.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Samuel Handy returns from a loan that gave him nothing
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoria United can pretend not to have heard.
Mohamed Niaré 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. Omar El Mansouri 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Victoria United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoria United 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 Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar El Mansouri 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 did not go to PWD Bamenda to sit and watch. I want to come back to Victoria United and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 20 matches say the rest.
Mohamed Niaré 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
Franck Kom 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoria United can pretend not to have heard.
Mohamed Niaré 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. Omar El Mansouri 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 did not go to PWD Bamenda to sit and watch. I want to come back to Victoria United and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 16 matches say the rest.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoria United can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Victoria United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mohamed Niaré 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Franck Kom 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.” Rudolf Lyonga and Victoria United agree another 3 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoria United can pretend not to have heard.
Mohamed Niaré 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.
In brief
SquadSerge Bogam is a better footballer than he was
SquadWords at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Serge Bogam will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Victoria United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Victoria United, and 7 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
The deal that would have taken Raphaël Anaba to Aigle Royal de la Menoua has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Victoria United with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The offer from Dynamo Douala for Yann Junior Mengue 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.
Mohamed Niaré 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. Omar El Mansouri 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoria United can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Victoria United 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 Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to Berekum Chelsea to sit and watch. I want to come back to Victoria United and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Victoria United will not try tonight.
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.
Mohamed Niaré 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. Omar El Mansouri 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 watch every Victoria United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Berekum Chelsea runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franck Kom 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Victoria United can tell you which week it ends in.
“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.
Marked 5.66. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Raphaël Anaba has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
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 5.69. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
In brief
Player ratingsSamuel Handy could not find anything
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Victoria United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Szymon Skonieczny is living that version at Victoria United, and it tends to show in the first month.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Victoria United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bright Sunday has just signed for Victoria United, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Berekum Chelsea have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Frédérick Ntsama. The answer from Victoria United has not changed — yet.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Canon Yaounde lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Canon Yaounde is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mehdi Khallati was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfried Bilongo 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.