Marked for Kamel Ghanem
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The deal with Onze Createurs is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Donatien Tchami and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
US Bougouni asked and Etoiles du Mande said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolas Martins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Kamel Ghanem 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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Idrissa Diarra is on it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Kamel Ghanem has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and US Bougouni will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zakaria Ismaili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lassana N'Diaye signs something — a contract at US Bougouni or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kienzola Ntondo is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Abdoul Bode 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zakaria Ismaili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Idrissa Diarra has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at US Bougouni 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Kamel Ghanem has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and US Bougouni will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market21 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lassana N'Diaye signs something — a contract at US Bougouni or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
“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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and US Bougouni did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Zakaria Ismaili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at US Bougouni is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. US Bougouni have done the hard part with Stade Malien, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Abdoul Bode 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Zakaria Ismaili 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
Kamel Ghanem 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
US Bougouni are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what US Bougouni can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Abdoul Bode 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 US Bougouni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gabriel Ugochukwu commits to US Bougouni for another 3 years.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at US Bougouni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aboubacar Meïté 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at US Bougouni, another week without a signature from Kienzola Ntondo.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Yohan Mollo gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yohan Mollo is on it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Donatien Tchami has moved up it.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Open for business: US Bougouni enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Abdoul Bode 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gibril Bayoumi, and the manager let it.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at US Bougouni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Ismaili 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 dugout24 May 2027
Idrissa Diarra has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at US Bougouni 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 dugout24 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at US Bougouni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lassana N'Diaye signs something — a contract at US Bougouni or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout24 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market24 May 2027
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what US Bougouni could get for him.
Squad24 May 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 2027
“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 US Bougouni, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout17 May 2027
This is not rotation. Zakaria Ismaili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at US Bougouni is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 May 2027
Abdoul Bode 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
US Bougouni are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad17 May 2027
Nicolas Martins 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 dugout17 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at US Bougouni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Abdoul Bode and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kienzola Ntondo and US Bougouni agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match13 Mar 2027
0‑1 to AS Police, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market15 Mar 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
14 new faces, and US Bougouni 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. US Bougouni told Mamadou Diakité something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at US Bougouni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Martins 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.