Marked for Mário Nsumbu
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Aug 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Fauve Azur Elite people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market21 Aug 2028
Manuel Mbollo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fauve Azur Elite they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market21 Aug 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Fauve Azur Elite, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
$250.0K on the table at Unisport Bafang. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
The offer went to Dynamo Douala 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Souleman Souleman 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
The name of Joseph Tientchou has come up in conversations Fauve Azur Elite were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
Bryan Nokoue knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bryan Nokoue trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Fauve Azur Elite, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Fauve Azur Elite people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market26 Jun 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Gazelle Garoua, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Moïse Sakava 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
$21.0K was the most the club would pay and Canon Yaounde were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Cyrille Atchom 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Souleman Souleman trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market26 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Fauve Azur Elite know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 May 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 Fauve Azur Elite can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 May 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Cyrille Atchom 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.
Squad15 May 2028
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout15 May 2028
Jamel Zock a Zock has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Fauve Azur Elite 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.
Market15 May 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Yusuff Adewale may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout15 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franck Vincent Kofana Bepegue trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Fauve Azur Elite may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cyrille Atchom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Sacha Barakat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Oct 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Manuel Mbollo knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Manuel Mbollo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Fauve Azur Elite know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Fauve Azur Elite will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Bryan Nokoue 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cyrille Atchom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Moïse Sakava 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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“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.
Market16 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Souleman Souleman’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Nobody at Fauve Azur Elite 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.
Match16 Aug 2027
Position 6 on 35 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Fauve Azur Elite will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
$110.0K on the table at Colombe du Dja et Lobo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Bryan Nokoue and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market2 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Fauve Azur Elite have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market2 Aug 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Junior Kemajou-Dimabi signs something — a contract at Fauve Azur Elite or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout2 Aug 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Moïse Sakava is put on a programme of his own
Individual work, away from the group, aimed at one specific thing the coaches think is holding him back. It rarely makes the news and it is how most improvement actually happens.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Fauve Azur Elite have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Fauve Azur Elite, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 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 Fauve Azur Elite this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cyrille Atchom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Jun 2027
The name of Sidoine Koularambai has come up in conversations Fauve Azur Elite were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mário Nsumbu and Fauve Azur Elite agree another 3 years.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joseph Tientchou, and the manager let it.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Open for business: Fauve Azur Elite enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fauve Azur Elite they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cyrille Atchom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 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 Fauve Azur Elite this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mário Nsumbu, and the manager let it.
Market17 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Abdoul l'Almanie’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad17 May 2027
Mário Nsumbu 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 Fauve Azur Elite will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Fauve Azur Elite may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Bryan Nokoue 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yusuff Adewale was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gerarld Mbeni, and the manager let it.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Souleman Souleman’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Brian Melingui Tsanga is on it.
Match26 Apr 2027
Continental football is in reach for Fauve Azur Elite
35 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Fauve Azur Elite will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sidoine Koularambai trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Fauve Azur Elite are no longer polite ones.
Market15 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fauve Azur Elite they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Bryan Nokoue 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 Fauve Azur Elite this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cyrille Atchom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Mar 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Souleman Souleman knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Boris Hongla to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Souleman Souleman's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Mário Nsumbu 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.