“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ismaily have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Achraf Dari 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.
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. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Police Union will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. César Francisco de la Peña has pre-agreed a move to Ismaily, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The phone has started ringing about Mohamed Kahraba again, and this time the name on the line is Al Ahly. Ismaily are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ahmed Adel 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.
At 28 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.
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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Ismaily, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chase for Fares Hatem ended with $190.0K changing hands and Al Gaish out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ismaily this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Morales 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.
Éric Traoré 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.
Petrojet paid $33.0K and Ismaily took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Ibrahim Abdelaal has left for Smouha in a $33.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Ismaily training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed El Armouty 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ismaily has been clear about where Nader Alaa stands, which is more than many ever get.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Youssef Marei will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haras El Hodoud the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ziad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gigli Ndefe 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Hassan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haras El Hodoud the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haras El Hodoud this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Gigli Ndefe 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Youssef Marei has his answer from Haras El Hodoud; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Haras El Hodoud is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The name of Islam Abou Salima has come up in conversations Haras El Hodoud were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gigli Ndefe 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.