Youcef Izem

Central Midfielder - JS Kabylie
17 Sep 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Youcef Izem

105 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 1

59 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

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.

Squad

Youcef Izem is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.

In brief

Back issues
64 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Babacar Sarr says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ryad Boudebouz

“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.

Match

CS Constantine take the points off JS Kabylie

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Loan watch

Youcef Izem has seen enough of ES Ben Aknoun

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at JS Kabylie, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Ryad Boudebouz

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.

Player ratings

Hatem Grine could not find anything

5.57. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aimen Lahmeri

Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

60 Edition

The ES Ben Aknoun Gazette

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Kendry Domingo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” ES Ben Aknoun may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Real improvement from Hocine Idres at ES Ben Aknoun

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hocine Idres is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

The wait goes on for ES Ben Aknoun

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.

Squad

Suleiman Abdullahi 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 ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A late step up for Suleiman Abdullahi

At 30 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for ES Ben Aknoun against MC Oran

0‑1 to MC Oran, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

60 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Aimen Mahious says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“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.

Match

The run at home goes on for JS Kabylie

12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

8 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Hatem Grine at JS Kabylie

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hatem Grine is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Mohamed Réda Hamidi 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.

Match

JS Kabylie see off Paradou

Three points for JS Kabylie, 1‑0 the final word against Paradou in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Aimen Mahious was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.13. 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.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

56 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Bandile Shandu gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bandile Shandu has just signed for JS Kabylie, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Hatem Grine is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

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.

Squad

Bandile Shandu out for 29 days

The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Bandile Shandu, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Market

Business is business: Lyes Aoucheta goes

MC El Bayadh paid $170.0K and JS Kabylie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Boardroom

Everton Dias will join JS Kabylie for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Everton Dias has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means JS Kabylie have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Market

Olympique Akbou are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. JS Kabylie will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Loan watch

Youcef Izem has seen enough of ES Ben Aknoun

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at JS Kabylie, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Market

JS Kabylie pick up Bandile Shandu for nothing

The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Bandile Shandu arrives at JS Kabylie with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.

In brief

54 Edition

The ES Ben Aknoun Gazette

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Aymen Chaaraoui asks to leave ES Ben Aknoun

“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.

Squad

Real improvement from Youcef Izem at ES Ben Aknoun

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Youcef Izem is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Tempers go at ES Ben Aknoun

Nassim Yattou 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

51 Edition

The ES Ben Aknoun Gazette

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at ES Ben Aknoun

Suleiman Abdullahi 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.

Squad

Gabin Allambatnan 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.

Squad

Badis Bouamama signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Badis Bouamama and ES Ben Aknoun agree another 4 years.

In brief

51 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Fares Nechat: 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.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Ryad Boudebouz 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koceila Ait Idir 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

50 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 2

55 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from JS Saoura for Mohamed Idir Hadid 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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Fares Nechat

“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.

Market

The Youcef Izem conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: ES Ben Aknoun will make the call about Youcef Izem this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

Stanley Nwabali has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at JS Kabylie 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.

In brief

48 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Seif Benrabah asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Market

JS Kabylie turn down ES Setif for Abdelhak Cherir

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Cheick Diabaté 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

JS Saoura expected to open talks for Mohamed Idir Hadid

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Loan watch

Adama Niane keeps scoring at Police Union

26 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Mostapha Rezkallah Bott has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at JS Kabylie 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.

Squad

Jaredi Teixeira 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 Jaredi Teixeira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Loan watch

3 goals on loan for Massinissa Nezla

13 appearances at MB Rouissat and the goals keep coming. JS Kabylie are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Market

The Youcef Izem question follows JS Kabylie around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youcef Izem’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

46 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

JS Kabylie refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 55 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.

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from MC Oran for Mohamed Idir Hadid 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.

Boardroom

Youcef Izem signs for ASO Chlef while still at JS Kabylie

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Youcef Izem has agreed terms with ASO Chlef for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Market

Only the photograph left for Yakoub Guellati

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yakoub Guellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

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.

Squad

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.

Market

Abdelmoumen Benchabane moves on

MC El Bayadh pay $110.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Loan watch

Oualid Malki wants to come home

“I did not go to Ajax Cape Town to sit and watch. I want to come back to JS Kabylie and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.

Market

The Youcef Izem conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: ASO Chlef will make the call about Youcef Izem this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

45 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from CS Constantine for Walid Khermouche 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.

Boardroom

Oussama Haroun signs for CS Constantine while still at JS Kabylie

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Oussama Haroun has agreed terms with CS Constantine for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Market

Only the photograph left for Oussama Haroun

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oussama Haroun will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Ryad Boudebouz 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Billal Messaoudi 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.

Market

Eyes on Youcef Izem again

The phone has started ringing about Youcef Izem again, and this time the name on the line is ASO Chlef. JS Kabylie are listening politely and promising nothing.

In brief

17 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Mostapha Rezkallah Bott breaks a bone — 26 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Cheick Diabaté 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Cheick Diabaté 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against USM Alger

0‑2 to USM Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Stanley Nwabali has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at JS Kabylie 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.

Player ratings

Ryad Boudebouz runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

12 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Real improvement from Youcef Izem at JS Kabylie

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Youcef Izem is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Cheick Diabaté 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.

Squad

Fares Nechat 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Cheick Diabaté

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cheick Diabaté, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

JS Kabylie share the spoils with CS Constantine

A 1‑1 draw with CS Constantine leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief