Marked for Issah Mohammed
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Walid Ouabdi breaks a bone — 70 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match20 Nov 2027
The cup run ends for Aswan
1‑2 against El Masry, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad22 Nov 2027
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Junior Gqabashe is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Aswan
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Aswan
Junior Gqabashe 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Anthony Okachi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Market22 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Daddy Abdulrahman has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Aswan.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Sayed El Shabrawy
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The dugout
Robert Mizo does not fit this one
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Walid Ouabdi out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aswan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Aswan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Abdelsamia 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Anthony Okachi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
El Masry next, and one man in the Aswan dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Aswan would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market15 Nov 2027
The name of Anthony Okachi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aswan say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Tolba Mohamed out for 115 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Aswan
Bismark Asante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 7.85 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Aswan had the best player on the pitch.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Too much change too quickly at Aswan
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Match25 Sep 2027
It needed Robert Mizo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al Ahly, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Issah Mohammed
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
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.” Trezeguet Marwan chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Anthony Okachi 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 Aswan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Issah Mohammed out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Aswan
Cyriaque Sylla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Ahmed Hamoudi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aswan 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.
Market17 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Robert Mizo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
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.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Aswan
Mostafa Anani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Okachi signs something — a contract at Aswan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout10 May 2027
Abdelaziz Mousa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aswan 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.
Market10 May 2027
The clock does Islam Gamal’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Aswan could ask drops and the wages Islam Gamal can ask rise.
Squad10 May 2027
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager plants his flag on Robert Mizo
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Robert Mizo’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Squad10 May 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
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Match
Mid-table, and Aswan know it
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Boardroom
Aswan board back the manager
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 May 2027
Full time on the season at Aswan
Position 9 on 45 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout3 May 2027
“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.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 May 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Trezeguet Marwan left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Issah Mohammed out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Karim Mostafa, 36, rolls back the years — 8.11
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.11 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Aswan
Bismark Asante 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Aswan and Military Production, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robert Mizo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Semo in the eights
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 8.04 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market19 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Aswan's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aswan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Aswan
Bismark Asante 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Anthony Okachi had Aswan level again within 4 minutes, and Smouha never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Islam Gamal gets it from the manager
“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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Aswan and Smouha take a point apiece
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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Trezeguet Marwan after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Aswan
Bismark Asante 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Abdelrahman Magdy has come up in conversations Aswan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match2 Jan 2027
ENPPI made Aswan work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Issah Mohammed and Aswan agree another 3 years.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Marked 7.53 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Aswan had the best player on the pitch.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Al Ahly: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Mohamed Ibrahim is in the works
Aswan have made the call to Zamalek. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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.” Trezeguet Marwan kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
Enyimba say no — this time
The offer from Birzebbuga St. Peter's for Nathaniel Asibe 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Adamu Yazid
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adamu Yazid will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Enyimba the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Enyimba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Enyimba asked and Ismaily said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match15 Aug 2026
Three points for Enyimba, 2‑1 the final word against Bayelsa United in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Augustine Nwaorisa 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.20 — 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.