“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adam El Mallah did not need any: 8.05, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eyad Tamer, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Insa Badji 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 mood at Al Gaish has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 The request is on a desk at Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mahmoud Bentayg 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Santos 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.
Something was said to Mohamed Atef and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al Gaish, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
Ziad El Teihy 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mohamed Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Youness Lachhab will call it something else in private.
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 Eyad Tamer is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 combined actions and 7.45. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Santos 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al Gaish can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Minsk have kept their man, and Al Gaish go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Baron Ochieng has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bismark Asante provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ricardo Santos scored, was marked 7.63, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Al Gaish until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and El Dakhleya were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Ismaily go through and Al Gaish go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Gaish have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Youness Lachhab has just signed for Al Gaish, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
$97.0K settles it between the clubs for Ahmed Zaki
ENPPI have accepted the money. What Al Gaish do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
1 for Baron Ochieng, marked 7.67, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The mood at Al Gaish has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
Mahmoud Bentayg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
Al Gaish asked and El Masry said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. ENPPI had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ebuka Okeke did not need any: 8.08, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Mahmoud Bentayg 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
“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 dugout20 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mohamed Tarek, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutEbuka Okeke knocks on the manager’s door
Mahmoud Bentayg 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al Gaish can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Mohamed Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutEbuka Okeke asks for a word with the manager
The mood at Al Gaish has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Wadi Degla spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Baron Ochieng 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
Everybody at Al Gaish saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
He is 21 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.
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Baron Ochieng 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al Gaish and Ismaily in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Mohamed Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Mahmoud Bentayg 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
Mahmoud Bentayg 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 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.
Haras El Hodoud next, and one man in the Al Gaish dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Al Gaish would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
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.
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Mahmoud Bentayg and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Marked 7.81. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Eyad Tamer is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Something was said to Ebuka Okeke and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mohamed Tarek, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutEbuka Okeke knocks on the manager’s door
Mahmoud Bentayg 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.
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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.52, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Zamalek had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Karim Tarek
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Baron Ochieng 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 combined actions and 6.61. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
5 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.
Mounder Temine 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al Gaish has been clear about where Ebuka Okeke stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ebuka Okeke
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ahmed Abbas reports back to Al Gaish with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Ebuka Okeke has come up in conversations Al Gaish were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 22 gone
That is the business done at Al Gaish until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Baron Ochieng 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ENPPI have kept their man, and Al Gaish go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Ebuka Okeke is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Baron Ochieng
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Baron Ochieng has come out of that comparison in the side, and Al Gaish have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al Gaish have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Gaish have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al Gaish they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Eyad Tamer 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al Gaish and Ghazl El Mahalla, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
Al Gaish asked and Masr El Makasa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al Gaish have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Military Production will make the call about Ali Hamdi this week. Al Gaish have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ashraf El Nenny 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wadi Degla waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al Gaish is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al Gaish have done the hard part with El Masry, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Karim Tarek 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 Jul 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Camacho 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
A conversation is coming this week. Al Gaish will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Camacho 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.
Ziad El Teihy 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.
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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ahmed Alaa'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.
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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Vini has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Magdy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 16 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karim Tarek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ziad El Teihy 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Islam Mohareb has his answer from Al Gaish; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al Gaish, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ahmed Alaa'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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro signs something — a contract at Al Gaish or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
Karim Tarek 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hamed El Gabry has written the date down.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Somebody to talk to at the next peg, a few words of the language, and a training ground that has stopped being a foreign country. It never appears in a scouting report and it decides most signings.
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Karim Tarek 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.
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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mohamed Tarek, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Ahmed Alaa's mistake
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
5 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Tarek 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.
Ziad El Teihy 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.
Ismaily left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mohamed Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Gaish will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ali Hamdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al Gaish the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutIslam Mohareb dropped after a run of poor form
Position 17 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Gaish have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Karim Tarek 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 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.
Marked 6.81 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohamed Tarek after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Gaish lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ali Hamdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al Gaish the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al Gaish can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Al Gaish asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Al Gaish, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Camacho 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.
Ziad El Teihy 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.
Half the programme played, position 18, 8 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Amro Tarek commits to Al Gaish for another 1 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Camacho 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.
Ziad El Teihy 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohamed Tarek after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Riga has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Al Gaish close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Al Gaish had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at KAA Gent, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Karim Tarek 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.
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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Amro Tarek has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al Gaish, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al Gaish have done the hard part with WAFA, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Real Madrid is saying, and nobody at Al Gaish is enjoying the guessing.
Karim Tarek 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 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Al Gaish have made the call to Wa All Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Al Gaish had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dynamo Kyiv, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Gaish this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Al Gaish training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ashraf El Wensh 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramadan El Shenawy 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mahmoud Gabr 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Al Gaish will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.