Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
294 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Igbongidi signs something — a contract at FC Diarra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadMpho Khethang has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. AS Bakaridjan kept coming because nothing stopped them, and FC Diarra will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.35 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
US Bougouba will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. FC Diarra were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 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.
Marked 9.93 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 1, 51 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.
4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boubacar Maiga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FC Diarra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A 3‑2 win over Djoliba, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings15 Feb 2038
David Igbongidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.26. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings8 Feb 2038
A brace, and Mpho Khethang takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mpho Khethang provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and US Forces Armees, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A 4‑2 win over US Forces Armees, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 9.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings18 Jan 2038
Modibo Diaby, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.63
A mark of 8.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
A season average of 7.22 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Position 1, 29 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.
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.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 12 goals between FC Diarra and AS Bakaridjan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Igbongidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.35, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and Onze Createurs, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.53, and he looked the most comfortable man 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 FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
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.
10.00. 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.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdoulaye Coulibaly. 2‑1 against Binga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.95. 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.
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.
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 5‑3 win over Afrique Foot Elite, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between FC Diarra and Afrique Foot Elite, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad19 Oct 2037
Mpho Khethang 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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 1, 61 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.
Thuto Sesipi 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
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.23, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Thuto Sesipi 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 words a physio says slowly. 54 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Aug 2037
At 21, Modibo Diaby is already the best thing here
An average of 7.23 in a first team he is several years too young for. FC Diarra have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. FC Diarra will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The words a physio says slowly. 110 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.23, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Abdoulaye Coulibaly had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and AS Bakaridjan were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings23 Mar 2037
Thuto Sesipi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.04. 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.
Position 1, 57 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
David Igbongidi had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and US Bougouba were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Squad2 Mar 2037
At 21, Modibo Diaby is already the best thing here
An average of 7.16 in a first team he is several years too young for. FC Diarra have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sulaiman Salisu provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Feb 2037
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.22, 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
8 goals in one match, Abdoulaye Coulibaly on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and AS Korofina.
Position 1, 39 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.
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.
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings19 Jan 2037
Modibo Diaby, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.08
A mark of 8.08 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Khama Hlatshwayo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and Afrique Foot Elite.
Marked 9.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings12 Jan 2037
A brace, and Thuto Sesipi takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thuto Sesipi provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FC Diarra and AS Police in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Abdoulaye Coulibaly will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at FC Diarra escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and FC Diarra have had the benefit of it.
Marked 8.83 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Modibo Diaby, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 9.29
A mark of 9.29 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
At 20 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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FC Diarra may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings22 Dec 2036
A brace, and Mpho Khethang takes the afternoon — 8.53
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mpho Khethang provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10.00. 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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings15 Dec 2036
Ousmane Keita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. 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.
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.
Ousmane Keita had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Etoiles du Mande were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alioune Sylla and FC Diarra agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings8 Dec 2036
David Igbongidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
7 goals in one match, David Igbongidi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and US Bougouba.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and Djoliba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
10 goals and a season average of 7.42 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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.