Marked for Ibo Djebate
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Victoria United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Victoria United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Pierre Akono 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphaël Anaba 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 dugout18 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Agbor Ashu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Victoria United is pretending otherwise.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
Dérrick Anye Fru 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Market4 Jun 2029
Brayann Nana has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Dérrick Anye Fru 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 dugout4 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Yann Junior Mengue has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Victoria United is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphaël Anaba 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 dugout4 Jun 2029
Ibo Djebate 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
Market4 Jun 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nko Ghangle Rattensi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Ibo Djebate has had enough of the bench
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mamoudou Hassana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Victoria United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Dérrick Anye Fru 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 dugout16 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Jason Moulle has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Victoria United is pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Raphaël Anaba 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 dugout16 Apr 2029
“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.
Market16 Apr 2029
The shop window has Carl Eyong in it
Victoria United have let the market know Carl Eyong can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Market11 Sep 2028
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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Pierre Akono in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Ibo Djebate arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ibo Djebate has, at Victoria United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Bawak Etta 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.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Victoria United will try again when the window opens; Dynamo Douala may not be selling by then.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibo Djebate and Victoria United agree another 3 years.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“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.