Marked for Cherif Ibrahim
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Mamadou Sacko has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 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 The request is on a desk at Onze Createurs, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Onze Createurs this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Onze Createurs training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idrissa Guindo 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Nana Ofori 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.
Market4 Jun 2029
The name of Sekou Sissoko has come up in conversations Onze Createurs were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$12.3K taken back off the Onze Createurs table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces21 May 2029
Anger at Onze Createurs spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom21 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Onze Createurs boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad21 May 2029
A fracture rules Abdelkrim Oukali out for 47 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Onze Createurs will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 May 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Malick Traoré 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Idrissa Guindo 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Feb 2029
Moussa Mariko breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match19 Feb 2029
Every point is an argument now for Onze Createurs
Position 12 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market19 Feb 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Onze Createurs they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Onze Createurs this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Onze Createurs training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idrissa Guindo 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.
Match17 Feb 2029
A 1‑0 win over Etoiles du Mande, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Marked 8.53 — 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
Upbeat
Squad12 Feb 2029
Moussa Mariko breaks a bone — 109 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
A brace, and Malick Traoré takes the afternoon — 8.32
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Malick Traoré provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market12 Feb 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 Onze Createurs, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Feb 2029
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Nhlonipho Mtshali reports back to Onze Createurs with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad12 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Onze Createurs this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joy Manana and Onze Createurs agree another 4 years.
Market12 Feb 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Malick Traoré signs something — a contract at Onze Createurs or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
Moussa Mariko breaks a bone — 130 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 130 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Jan 2029
A 1‑0 win over AS Police, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match22 Jan 2029
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Jan 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 Onze Createurs, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market22 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelkrim Oukali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Onze Createurs the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Idrissa Guindo 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Ousmane Diarra 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.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A performance of 8.83 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Jan 2029
Moussa Mariko breaks a bone — 137 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 137 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Jan 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
Real Bamako come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Onze Createurs did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Malick Traoré, 33, rolls back the years — 7.83
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Malick Traoré 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 Jan 2029
Idrissa Guindo 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.
Match13 Jan 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Malick Traoré’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Onze Createurs.
Squad15 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
Pressure builds in the Onze Createurs boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The terraces14 Aug 2028
The mood at Onze Createurs has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad14 Aug 2028
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.
Market14 Aug 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 Onze Createurs can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joy Manana is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Idrissa Guindo 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Cherif Ibrahim gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cherif Ibrahim has just signed for Onze Createurs, and for once the answer mattered.
Market10 Jul 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Onze Createurs they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Shadrack Kobedi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad10 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Onze Createurs this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Onze Createurs training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabo Mile 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
Crisis
The terraces19 Jun 2028
The mood at Fauve Azur Elite has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Fauve Azur Elite
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Marc Tsala Ndi out for 26 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fauve Azur Elite will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jun 2028
“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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer from Victoria United for Manuel Mbollo 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 Apr 2028
The mood at Fauve Azur Elite has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad24 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Fauve Azur Elite
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 Apr 2028
“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.
Market24 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Marcel Hongla
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcel Hongla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fauve Azur Elite the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fauve Azur Elite this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jan 2028
Ebiabowei Baker damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Alfredo hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Fauve Azur Elite can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A move Herman Tchakounte would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Herman Tchakounte is living that version at Fauve Azur Elite, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market24 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Manuel Mbollo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Mbollo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fauve Azur Elite the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Ebiabowei Baker 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.
Match22 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.