Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Célestin Écua 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 Sep 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ndzie 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 name of Osagie Onisodumeya has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Everyone has stopped pretending: ES Setif will make the call about Oualid Malki this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“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 The request is on a desk at JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zineddine Belaïd 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.
At 24 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.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and JS Kabylie are still learning each other
MarketThe clock does Jérémy Oyono’s negotiating for him
The offer from MB Rouissat for Osagie Onisodumeya 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ylies Ounissi has just signed for JS Kabylie, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Martin Ndzie 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 offer from ES Mostaganem for Michael Halliday 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Oualid Malki has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Moussa Kanté has improved at 26, 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 offer from MB Rouissat for Lahlou Akhrib 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.
The name of Jérémy Oyono has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at JS Kabylie heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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.
In brief
SquadLahlou Akhrib has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Trezeguet Sobhi 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. JS Kabylie have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fabrizio Correa has just signed for JS Kabylie, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oumar Sako will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zineddine Belaïd 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.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Martin Ndzie wants continental football; whether JS Kabylie can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Mohamed Réda Hamidi 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oumar Sako will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie 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 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.
Squad26 May 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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.
Oualid Malki 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at JS Kabylie hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Billal Messaoudi and JS Kabylie agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mohamed Réda Hamidi 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Billal Messaoudi 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mehdi Medjani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie 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.
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie 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.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 Mar 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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.
A 2‑0 win over ASO Chlef, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings3 Mar 2031
Célestin Écua was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.67. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The offer from Olympique Akbou for Montassar Triki 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at JS Kabylie heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mehdi Medjani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from ES Mostaganem for Derrick Julu 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.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. JS Kabylie have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thabiso Sesane. 2‑1 against ES Setif, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Thabiso Sesane at his very best
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Ricardo Mathias at his very best
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.97 — 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.
Marked 8.66 — 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.
Martin Ndzie 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Billal Messaoudi 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.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Lahlou Akhrib has improved at 25, 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.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Jérémy Oyono
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at JS Kabylie hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mehdi Boudjemaa and JS Kabylie agree another 2 years.
Célestin Écua 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
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.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Aimen Mahious has improved at 32, 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Selwyn Stevens is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 phone has started ringing about Oualid Malki again, and this time the name on the line is ES Setif. JS Kabylie are listening politely and promising nothing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 3, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The name of Lahlou Akhrib has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 Jul 2030
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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 JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. JS Kabylie will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie 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.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Moussa Kanté has just signed for JS Kabylie, and for once the answer mattered.
Add another name to the list: MB Rouissat have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Derrick Julu. The answer from JS Kabylie has not changed — yet.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marco Antonio Bueno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ryad Boudebouz 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
SquadWords at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Paradou for Lahlou Akhrib 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Oualid Malki again, and this time the name on the line is MC Oran. JS Kabylie are listening politely and promising nothing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from MC Oran for Oualid Malki 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.
Add another name to the list: ES Mostaganem have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lahlou Akhrib. The answer from JS Kabylie has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabiso Sesane 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.
Lahlou Akhrib 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.
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.
Ryad Boudebouz 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.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Ryad Boudebouz 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.
Match16 Feb 2030
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for JS Kabylie. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.74 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Marked 8.25 — 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.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lahlou Akhrib 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Arthur Bada at his very best
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.79. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. JS Kabylie will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ricardo Mathias. 2‑1 against ES Mostaganem, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Ricardo Mathias scored in the 88th minute, Paradou had already begun thinking about the journey home, and JS Kabylie took the lot.
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ryad Boudebouz 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zineddine Belaïd 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 JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.67 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 JS Kabylie 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Célestin Écua was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanley Nwabali signs something — a contract at JS Kabylie or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.