Mohamed El Ouardi 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.
Mohamed El Ouardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narcisse Bechir 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 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stars Jeunes Talents, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahamat Mbainaissem signs something — a contract at Stars Jeunes Talents or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Mohamed El Ouardi 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.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Moussa Haroun’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Galactik needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ousmane Biani signs something — a contract at Galactik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
They sit in position 10 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
Mohamed El Ouardi 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.
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.
Something was said to Abdramane Abba and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Galactik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Galactik would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Position 6 on 31 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Abdoulaye Mbaiguedem 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Idriss Hissein was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents 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.
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Yannick Masra was the best thing in any of them.
A side in position 10 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mahamat Bechir after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 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.
Everything agreed with Stars Jeunes Talents, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
$89.0K 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.
Saleh Hissein was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $23.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. US Moursal have kept their man, and Galactik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 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.
A 2‑0 win over Foullah Edifice, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Ousmane Biani was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stars Jeunes Talents have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Stars Jeunes Talents asked and Aiglons said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Idriss Hissein was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Half the programme played, position 4, 25 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
AS Etat Major will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Stars Jeunes Talents were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Abdramane Abba 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.
9.18. 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.
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.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Abdoulaye Haroun could afford to be generous.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stars Jeunes Talents will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
0‑3 to Renaissance, 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.
Abdramane Abba 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Hissein 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 first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Renaissance; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
5 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.
Abdramane Abba 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.
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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Abdoulaye Haroun, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stars Jeunes Talents will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Brahim Ndoram, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.03
A mark of 8.03 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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Stars Jeunes Talents 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.
Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brahim Ndoram signs something — a contract at Stars Jeunes Talents or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stars Jeunes Talents will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Brahim Ndoram, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 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.
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.
Abdramane Abba 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Hissein 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Brahim Ndoram has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ezechiel Doungous provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. CotonTchad tried to reorganise, Stars Jeunes Talents did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Oumar Abba is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Abdoulaye Haroun, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Hissein 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Oct 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.” Abdoulaye Haroun chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. US Moursal defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.03 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Hissein 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Chances created: 12. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Abdramane Abba 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stars Jeunes Talents, another week without a signature from Abdramane Abba.
“I watch every Stars Jeunes Talents game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Renaissance runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stars Jeunes Talents will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adam Mahamat and Stars Jeunes Talents agree another 2 years.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
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.
Abdramane Abba 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Narcisse Tokindang has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mahamat Souleymane has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam Mahamat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stars Jeunes Talents the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Adam Mahamat has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Idriss Hissein was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stars Jeunes Talents 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 Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Idriss Hissein was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Gazelle moved on, Adam Mahamat reports back to Stars Jeunes Talents, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Idriss Hissein was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Narcisse Hissein 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $45.6K — a club that wants Abdramane Hissein enough to be asked twice.
Stars Jeunes Talents have gone to AS Etat Major 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 offer from CotonTchad for Adam Mahamat was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Hissein 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.
Abdramane Abba 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Hissein 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Stars Jeunes Talents will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
A loan enquiry to Foullah Edifice: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Stars Jeunes Talents asked and Foullah Edifice said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Mbainaissem 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brahim Ndoram trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Abdramane Abba 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdramane Allamine and Stars Jeunes Talents agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.