Marked for Oualid Malki
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match20 Mar 2032
5‑1, and Ebrima Colley took the headlines on an afternoon when everything CR Belouizdad tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad22 Mar 2032
24 goals and a season average of 7.65. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings22 Mar 2032
A brace, and Ebrima Colley takes the afternoon — 9.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ebrima Colley provided it, and the 9.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings22 Mar 2032
A brace, and Hamdi Labidi takes the afternoon — 9.42
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Hamdi Labidi provided it, and the 9.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Mar 2032
“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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2032
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CR Belouizdad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 Mar 2032
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CR Belouizdad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad12 Jan 2032
12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market12 Jan 2032
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Smouha waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Jan 2032
JS Kabylie come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and CR Belouizdad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Jan 2032
“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.
Player ratings12 Jan 2032
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.38, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market12 Jan 2032
Billal Brahimi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Ebrima Colley is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.50 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings12 Jan 2032
Farid El Melali, 34, rolls back the years — 8.06
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad6 Oct 2031
Ulisses Garcia breaks a bone — 105 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad6 Oct 2031
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match1 Oct 2031
A 3‑0 win over MB Rouissat, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match4 Oct 2031
4‑0, and Ebrima Colley took the headlines on an afternoon when everything CR Belouizdad tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.65, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match4 Oct 2031
Whatever happens, CR Belouizdad do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
Malachi Jones: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market6 Oct 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 May 2031
“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.
Market5 May 2031
Only the photograph left for Samy Mahour
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samy Mahour will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CR Belouizdad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout5 May 2031
Oualid Malki: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 May 2031
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
Squad5 May 2031
Farid El Melali 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.
Market5 May 2031
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 May 2031
Mohamed Awad has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
The dugout5 May 2031
Mohamed Awad 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 dugout5 May 2031
“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
Triumph
Squad24 Feb 2031
The knee: Islam Merili out for 31 days
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match24 Feb 2031
Position 3 and 55 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match22 Feb 2031
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now CR Belouizdad have 5 straight wins of it.
Player ratings24 Feb 2031
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.31 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CR Belouizdad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 Feb 2031
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Feb 2031
Walid Zamoum has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Feb 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces24 Feb 2031
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Nov 2030
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CR Belouizdad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Nov 2030
“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.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Ulisses Garcia 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.
Market25 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match23 Nov 2030
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation CR Belouizdad did not have in the autumn.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A season average of 7.35 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Farid El Melali 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.
Match23 Nov 2030
6 matches without defeat, and then MC Oran. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Oct 2030
5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.58, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
“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.
Market21 Oct 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Hamdi Labidi 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.
Match19 Oct 2030
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between CR Belouizdad and MC El Bayadh, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad21 Oct 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hady Reyad and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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
Match28 Sep 2030
15 matches without defeat, and then ES Setif. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad30 Sep 2030
A one-man rearguard from Mohamed Awad
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Up for the corner, and Mehdi Boudjemaa delivers — 7.83
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mehdi Boudjemaa scored, was marked 7.83, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market30 Sep 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Sep 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match28 Sep 2030
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Oualid Malki 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.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Alhassane Bangoura 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Window shuts: 32 in, 29 out at CR Belouizdad
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 32 arrived, 29 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market2 Sep 2030
The bid was some way short and CR Belouizdad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Hamdi Labidi 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 CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ahmed Slimani is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
5 academy players handed senior numbers at CR Belouizdad
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Oualid Malki 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. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market2 Sep 2030
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Islam Benrahma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market2 Sep 2030
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nassim Zeffane has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match29 Jul 2030
81 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market29 Jul 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CR Belouizdad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market29 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
“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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Ulisses Garcia 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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Khanyisa Mayo 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 dugout29 Jul 2030
Youcef Laouafi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
Market29 Jul 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Farid El Melali’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.