Marked for Ahmat Ndoram
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
The knee: Marius Oumar out for 95 days
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Etat Major lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at AS Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Nov 2027
At 19 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Aziz Sabiri in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Yassine Mazraoui 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
The Ahmat Ndoram story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ahmat Ndoram signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Oct 2027
Aziz Sabiri hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to AS Etat Major's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AS Etat Major has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ahmat Ndoram commits to AS Etat Major for another 4 years.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Hassan Allamine 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
Renaissance left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Aziz Sabiri
“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.
Player ratings18 Oct 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 dugout18 Oct 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ezechiel Ndoram to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Saleh Adoum 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 Saleh Adoum trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces11 Oct 2027
The mood at AS Etat Major has turned into something else
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Hassan Allamine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Issa Adoum commits to AS Etat Major for another 3 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yassine Mazraoui 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Aziz Sabiri knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Idriss Oumar gets it from the manager
“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
The terraces13 Sep 2027
The mood at AS Etat Major has turned into something else
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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at AS Etat Major is running low.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
AS Etat Major had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Galactik, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Aziz Sabiri 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 targets13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yassine Mazraoui 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Omar Hakimi
“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 dugout13 Sep 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ahmat Ndoram’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Aug 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market9 Aug 2027
US Moursal come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and AS Etat Major did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market9 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 AS Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Aziz Sabiri 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
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Galactik have kept their man, and AS Etat Major go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Omar Hakimi 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 dugout9 Aug 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Aiglons: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at AS Etat Major would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Jul 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jul 2027
AS DGSSIE paid $38.0K and AS Etat Major took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stars Jeunes Talents have kept their man, and AS Etat Major go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yassine Mazraoui 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 dugout12 Jul 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Aiglons 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
AS Etat Major have made Aziz Sabiri available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Aziz Sabiri asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ezechiel Ndoram has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jun 2027
Galactik come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and AS Etat Major did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bicto Tyonga 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Omar Hakimi 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Ali Ndoram, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
“I watch every AS Etat Major game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CotonTchad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad7 Jun 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.
The dugout7 Jun 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
Squad10 May 2027
Abdramane Doungous damages knee ligaments — 39 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Bicto Tyonga 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 dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Squad10 May 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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Adam Moustapha 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 Adam Moustapha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 May 2027
The name of Ahmat Ndoram keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AS Etat Major say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
Abdramane Doungous damages knee ligaments — 67 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bicto Tyonga 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Omar Hakimi 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Galactik left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Marius Oumar gets it from the manager
“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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“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 AS Etat Major, and 11 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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 0‑1 Ezechiel Ndoram left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market12 Apr 2027
The Ahmat Ndoram story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ahmat Ndoram signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Etat Major lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match13 Mar 2027
4 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Bicto Tyonga 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Issa Abba runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Omar Hakimi 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
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 dugout15 Mar 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout15 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.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Issa Abba’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AS Etat Major needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
Bicto Tyonga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Hakimi 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I watch every AS Etat Major game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Foullah Edifice runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Marked 7.40 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, AS Etat Major had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match20 Feb 2027
Point won or two lost for AS Etat Major?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Aiglons? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
11 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Match26 Dec 2026
0‑3 to Stars Jeunes Talents, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match26 Dec 2026
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Hassan Allamine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omar Hakimi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Issa Abba gets it from the manager
“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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Nobody left the AS Etat Major dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
“I watch every AS Etat Major game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Foullah Edifice runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout28 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 0‑3 Ezechiel Ndoram left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Bicto Tyonga 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Hakimi 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The name of Ahmat Ndoram keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AS Etat Major say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Marius Oumar knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bicto Tyonga in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“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 AS Etat Major, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Market12 Oct 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AS Etat Major, another week without a signature from Saleh Oumar.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
AS Etat Major take on the side everybody is chasing
Renaissance arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Market12 Oct 2026
The Ahmat Ndoram talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. US Moursal moved on, Abdramane Hissein reports back to AS Etat Major, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 2 in, 8 out at AS Etat Major
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bicto Tyonga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$33.0K was the most the club would pay and AS Algoy were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
AS Etat Major asked and AS Algoy said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Hakimi 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 targets7 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Odrick Bisah deal
AS Etat Major ran out of time with PWD Bamenda. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Yassine Mazraoui has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Etat Major have done the hard part with Foullah Edifice, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Youssouf Doungous 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Hakimi 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmat Ndoram, and the manager let it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Ezechiel Mbaiguedem has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market17 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Adam Djimet may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmat Ndoram and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Hassan Allamine 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. AS Etat Major will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$15.0K was the most the club would pay and US Moursal were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmat Haroun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Foullah Edifice 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 targets10 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to US Moursal: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Ahmat Ndoram asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Hassan Allamine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omar Hakimi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Gazelle have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Aziz Sabiri. The answer from AS Etat Major has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to AS PSI: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Ahmat Ndoram 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 Ahmat Ndoram trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.