Marked for Armhel Yandeme
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
Junior Rostand M'baï and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Unisport Bafang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gérard Zanga 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 dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gilbert Ngaffa, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Rostand M'baï was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 May 2027
Serge Andoulo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Unisport Bafang 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 dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Frederic Koloto
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
Serge Andoulo 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Rostand M'baï was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Armhel Yandeme knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Armhel Yandeme trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Unisport Bafang may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Junior Rostand M'baï 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 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tony Ngani Kameni and Unisport Bafang agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Unisport Bafang may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Serge Andoulo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Junior Rostand M'baï 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Unisport Bafang is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Serge Andoulo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Unisport Bafang 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Unisport Bafang will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Mar 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Up for the corner, and Terence Ngankam delivers — 7.75
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Terence Ngankam scored, was marked 7.75, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.25 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Rostand M'baï and Unisport Bafang agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Junior Rostand M'baï and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Serge Andoulo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Gérard Zanga 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Junior Rostand M'baï 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑1 to Victoria United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elie Junior Bamal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elie Junior Bamal, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Patrick Mbia after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Armhel Yandeme knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Armhel Yandeme trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad1 Mar 2027
David Ngameni moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Unisport Bafang than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
Serge Andoulo 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 Feb 2027
Words at Unisport Bafang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Rostand M'baï 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Armhel Yandeme
“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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market22 Feb 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Armhel Yandeme may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Unisport Bafang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Feb 2027
Colombe du Dja et Lobo left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Gérard Zanga 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 dugout15 Feb 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 Patrick Mbia to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Frederic Koloto
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Richepin Tchokou has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Unisport Bafang 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
He came on with the match going nowhere and left it settled. Unisport Bafang had the right man on the bench, and for once the timing was right too.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The plan did not have a place for Divane Tchameni
Nobody at Unisport Bafang is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolas Moukoudi
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Unisport Bafang lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Canon Yaounde; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Unisport Bafang may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Serge Andoulo ran the middle of the pitch — 6.81
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 18 combined actions and a mark of 6.81, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Junior Rostand M'baï 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fauve Azur Elite have kept their man, and Unisport Bafang go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match23 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Unisport Bafang can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Dec 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Unisport Bafang are no longer polite ones.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Serge Andoulo 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.20 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Unisport Bafang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Rostand M'baï 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Armhel Yandeme
“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 dugout28 Dec 2026
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Patrick Mbia to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 9.81 — 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Junior Rostand M'baï 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Patrick Mbia kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Frédéric Banga 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Oct 2026
0‑0 against Fauve Azur Elite, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Unisport Bafang's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Unisport Bafang has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.65, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Gérard Zanga 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Terence Ngankam and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gérard Zanga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 22 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Gérard Zanga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Oct 2026
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Dynamo Douala had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Unisport Bafang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Rostand M'baï 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
It needed Desmond Kameni to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Dynamo Douala, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Becker Tcheuani, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Not in the side at kick-off and the story of it by the end. Unisport Bafang were going nowhere until he came on, and half an hour was all he needed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Gérard Zanga 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Patrick Mbia chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Unisport Bafang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frédéric Banga 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.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Dynamo Douala top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Armhel Yandeme
“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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The pass was always on for David Ngameni
Chances created: 6. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.60, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Unisport Bafang and Fortuna Mfou in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Terence Ngankam and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Gérard Zanga 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Beaten 4 times, 1 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Frederic Koloto, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Terence Ngankam 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Unisport Bafang training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gérard Zanga 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Fauve Azur Elite: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.