Marked for Gaya Ait Hamou
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
17 days out for Célestin Écua after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. JS Kabylie will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad17 May 2027
Fashion Sakala 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oussama Haroun and JS Kabylie agree another 3 years.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaredi Teixeira 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 dugout17 May 2027
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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Achille Anani 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
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Célestin Écua out for 80 days
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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 Mar 2027
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fashion Sakala 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Jaredi Teixeira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Achille Anani
“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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
A promise honoured at JS Kabylie
Something was said to Ahmed Mammeri and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
JS Kabylie take on the side everybody is chasing
USM Alger arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. JS Kabylie know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against USM Alger in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.