Marked for Islam Abbaci
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
The drought breaks for MB Rouissat
14 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and ES Mostaganem were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A defender's goal wins it for MB Rouissat — 7.90
1 for Necer Benzid, marked 7.90, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Rezki Hamroune 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Redouane Maachou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to MB Rouissat's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at MB Rouissat has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
Anger at MB Rouissat spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Match5 Dec 2026
5 matches without a goal for MB Rouissat
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MB Rouissat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Redouane Maachou 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
11 matches without a win for MB Rouissat
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around MB Rouissat are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market30 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MB Rouissat can pretend not to have heard.
Match28 Nov 2026
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Kheiredine Merzougui and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match28 Nov 2026
Olympique Akbou left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benali Benamar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franck Kom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I watch every CR Belouizdad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at ES Ben Aknoun runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Mélo N'Diaye
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Something was said to Lofti Boussouar and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
10 appearances at Kaizer Chiefs and the goals keep coming. CR Belouizdad are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Djaber Kaassis knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match14 Oct 2026
A 2‑2 win over USM Alger, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Islam Abbaci: 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.” MB Rouissat have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to MB Rouissat's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at MB Rouissat has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Kheiredine Merzougui 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Redouane Maachou 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
JS Saoura left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rezki Hamroune, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rezki Hamroune and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Benali Benamar 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ali Halliche after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MC Oran in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
1‑4 to CS Constantine, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MB Rouissat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the MB Rouissat dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ali Halliche after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yacine Zeghad, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Islam Abbaci'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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Islam Abbaci beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MC El Bayadh in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for MB Rouissat
A 1‑6 beating by MC Alger was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
No thanks: Joseph Kalulu rejects the move
MB Rouissat had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at FC Nantes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Match12 Sep 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about MB Rouissat and MC Alger in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Benali Benamar 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑6 Ali Halliche left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MB Rouissat have done the hard part with El Masry, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ta'ee keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Kheiredine Merzougui 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 targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad31 Aug 2026
No place for Shain Chetioui in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation MB Rouissat are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The training reports on Islam Abbaci are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Siriman Konaté out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
CR Belouizdad have gone to Al-Ahli with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
CR Belouizdad asked and Al Dhafra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market24 Aug 2026
The chase for Mélo N'Diaye ended with $550.0K changing hands and CS Constantine out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Chouaib Keddad 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kheiredine Merzougui 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Shain Chetioui arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Shain Chetioui has, at MB Rouissat, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Benali Benamar 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Al-Ta'ee have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
MB Rouissat have made the call to El Masry. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Fee done, terms next for Mélo N'Diaye
CR Belouizdad and CS Constantine have settled on $550.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
No thanks: Joane Gadou rejects the move
CR Belouizdad had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Borussia Dortmund, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Naoufel Khacef and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
CR Belouizdad asked and Stade de Reims said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Montpellier HSC have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad17 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and CR Belouizdad are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A new face in his position, and Chouaib Keddad suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. CR Belouizdad have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mehdi Boudjemaa has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.