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 8.08 — 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sharjah, and 6 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Charles Pickel is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sharjah, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al Shaab in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Sharjah and Al Wasl in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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.
Sharjah asked and Al-Ra'ed said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Luan Pereira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
Beaten 6 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
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.
Mayed Saeed 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sharjah know it.
“I watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dibba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Majed Al Suwaidi signs something — a contract at Sharjah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutLeandrinho asks for a word with the manager
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Jazira have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Sharjah have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
Rafael Pereira 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.
“I watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dibba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sharjah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Dibba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Dibba had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sharjah, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Dibba asked and Al Ain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dibba 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dibba can pretend not to have heard.
$19.0K on the table at Al Jazira. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“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 Sharjah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Charles Pickel 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Firas Ben Larbi 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.
3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Sharjah no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sharjah, and 3 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Majed Al Suwaidi signs something — a contract at Sharjah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sharjah 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Malek Janeer a promise
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Pickel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Shaab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Majed Al Suwaidi signs something — a contract at Sharjah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Arshia Sarshogh is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sharjah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Sharjah the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sharjah 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.
“I watch every Sharjah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Shaab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Khaled Ebraheim signs something — a contract at Sharjah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sharjah 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 clubs have shaken hands with Al Jazira; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.37 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Leandrinho did not need any: 7.61, 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 Sharjah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Pickel 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. Al Jazira have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Igor Coronado 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Khaled Ebraheim’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sharjah needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sharjah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Rashed Humaid Al-Blooshi leaves Sharjah the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mohamed Nader was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Sharjah dressing room was either.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Majid Rashid
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashed Humaid Al-Blooshi 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ghaith Abdalla
$6.4M on the table at Al Shabab. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Nasr is saying, and nobody at Sharjah is enjoying the guessing.
Sharjah have gone to Al Nasr 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $6.9M — a club that wants Majed Al Suwaidi enough to be asked twice.
Kodjo Laba 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Nasr have kept their man, and Sharjah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Sharjah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Firas Ben Larbi 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 name of Khalifa Sembaij has come up in conversations Sharjah were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.