Marked for Willy Ebendeng
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Achille Fokem
79 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
3 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Joe Cole Mbella out for 26 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Unisport Bafang, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jan 2028
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Unisport Bafang had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Fauve Azur Elite have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Unisport Bafang have made the call to Cotonsport Garoua. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Eden Creol is in the works
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The dugout
Frederic Koloto gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Joe Cole Mbella out for 114 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Unisport Bafang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad11 Oct 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
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.
The dugout11 Oct 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Unisport Bafang, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Oct 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Unisport Bafang will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market11 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Terence Ngankam may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Armhel Yandeme
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Armhel Yandeme will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Unisport Bafang the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Aug 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad9 Aug 2027
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Willy Ebendeng and Unisport Bafang agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Unisport Bafang have made the call to Fauve Azur Elite. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Unisport Bafang and Dynamo Douala have settled on $250.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market2 Aug 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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Canon Yaounde, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad2 Aug 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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dynamo Douala have kept their man, and Unisport Bafang go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Willy Ebendeng and Unisport Bafang agree another 3 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers went at Unisport Bafang this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.
The dugout2 Aug 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
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franck Tientcheu, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Market15 Mar 2027
Fredy Mbang told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Fredy Mbang has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Unisport Bafang.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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.
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
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
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
PWD Bamenda left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Patrick Mbia left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Unisport Bafang told Gérard Zanga something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Armel Djimmoe
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Unisport Bafang have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Terence Ngankam, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Patrick Mbia left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Serge Andoulo gets picked when it counts
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 Serge Andoulo is on it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and Terence Ngankam sits out. Unisport Bafang lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Serge Andoulo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.