Marked for Narcisse Mbaiguedem
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces8 Nov 2027
Supporters organise against the AS Etat Major board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match6 Nov 2027
12 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Match3 Nov 2027
Foullah Edifice go through and AS Etat Major go home, 0‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match6 Nov 2027
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
The terraces8 Nov 2027
0-5. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Market8 Nov 2027
Ahmat Djimet 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
3 matches without a goal for AS Etat Major
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Mahamat 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Oct 2027
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match30 Oct 2027
0‑3 against CotonTchad, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match30 Oct 2027
8 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Boardroom1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Issa Mahamat and AS Etat Major agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Narcisse 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Issa Mahamat 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Youssouf Mbainaissem has his answer from AS Etat Major; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Haroun, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2027
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout25 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market25 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
Ahmat Haroun scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to AS Algoy, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Narcisse Hissein 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Brahim Allamine commits to AS Etat Major for another 3 years.
Loan watch25 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match9 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Renaissance, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match9 Oct 2027
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Hassan Haroun: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match9 Oct 2027
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Mahamat 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
“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
Match2 Oct 2027
No end in sight to AS Etat Major's wait for a win
7 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdoulaye Djimet is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market4 Oct 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
AS Etat Major are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Narcisse 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
5 academy graduates step up at AS Etat Major
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.
Match2 Oct 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Oct 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adam Haroun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Narcisse Hissein 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.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Ali Tokindang
“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.
Market27 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Narcisse Mbaiguedem signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Ali Tokindang has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and AS Etat Major will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Issa Mahamat has improved at 33, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narcisse 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.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Galactik to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ezechiel Abakar is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad13 Sep 2027
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Haroun, and the manager let it.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I watch every AS Etat Major game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gazelle runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Something was said to Hassan Haroun and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad13 Sep 2027
AS Etat Major are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
At 29 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Mahamat Allamine, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
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.
Squad23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
At 32 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Loan watch23 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Galactik to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
The dugout23 Aug 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 AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market23 Aug 2027
AS Etat Major have let the market know Ali Mbainaissem can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Anger at AS Etat Major spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom16 Aug 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Etat Major have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 Aug 2027
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Gazelle to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdoulaye Djimet trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Abdoulaye Djimet’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Aug 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahamat Allamine and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Issa Mahamat 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Oumar Oumar 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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Market9 Aug 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Youssouf Mbainaissem signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout9 Aug 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 AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Moustapha has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The AS Etat Major board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market2 Aug 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Abdoulaye Mahamat had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market2 Aug 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market2 Aug 2027
Youssouf Allamine has left for Galactik in a $31.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Too much change too quickly at AS Etat Major
5 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Galactik waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” AS DGSSIE had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market26 Jul 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.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Mahamat 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Issa Ngaradoumbe, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market26 Jul 2027
US Moursal are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. AS Etat Major will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Tokindang, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Ahmat Djimet 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 Djimet trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the AS Etat Major board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Pressure builds in the AS Etat Major boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 dugout19 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The name of Ali Doungous has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Abdoulaye Djimet’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Jul 2027
Every point is an argument now for AS Etat Major
Position 13 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Galactik had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Narcisse 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Issa Mahamat 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
The numbers do not look good at AS Etat Major
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout12 Jul 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 dugout12 Jul 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 AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market12 Jul 2027
Ali Mahamat is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Etat Major has been clear about where Ali Mahamat stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market12 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Youssouf Mbainaissem signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Issa Mahamat 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 Jul 2027
Too much change too quickly at AS Etat Major
7 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdoulaye Abba and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Ali Allamine out for 14 days
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.
Market28 Jun 2027
a squad player asks to leave AS Etat Major
“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.
Squad28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oumar Oumar and AS Etat Major agree another 2 years.
Loan watch28 Jun 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 4 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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 dugout28 Jun 2027
Abdoulaye Djimet 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Narcisse Adoum
“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
Crisis
Match14 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for AS Etat Major
Position 13 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Ali Allamine out for 28 days
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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Elect Sport, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam Souleymane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Narcisse 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Oumar Moustapha has left for Galactik in a $12.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Loan watch14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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 targets14 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Galactik: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Moustapha has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market7 Jun 2027
The offer from AS DGSSIE for Youssouf Allamine 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Ali Allamine out for 35 days
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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. AS Etat Major will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
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
Squad31 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Oumar Moustapha
31 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Ali Allamine breaks a bone — 42 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 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.
Loan watch31 May 2027
“I did not go to AS PSI to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 20 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 May 2027
Supporters organise against the AS Etat Major board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at AS Etat Major
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad24 May 2027
Ali Allamine breaks a bone — 49 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout24 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Idriss Mahamat 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.
Squad24 May 2027
AS Etat Major are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Tokindang, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 May 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Ali Allamine out for 56 days
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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Ali Tokindang: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 May 2027
Ahmat Djimet 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.
Market17 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 May 2027
Narcisse 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.
The dugout17 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Tokindang 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at AS Etat Major now.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
63 days out for Ali Allamine after a fracture
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.
Market10 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 May 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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
“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 dugout10 May 2027
Abdoulaye Djimet 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.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Youssouf Allamine signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad3 May 2027
70 days out for Ali Allamine after a fracture
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.
The dugout3 May 2027
a squad player says AS Etat Major went back on their word
“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.
Market3 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Loan watch3 May 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 4 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad3 May 2027
Narcisse Hissein 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 AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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 dugout3 May 2027
Oumar 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
$35.4K taken back off the AS Etat Major table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Supporters organise against the AS Etat Major board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom26 Apr 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
77 days out for Ali Allamine after a fracture
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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
Idriss Mahamat 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Brahim Allamine
“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.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Abdoulaye Djimet’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Djibrine 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
AS Etat Major have let the market know Ali Mbainaissem can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Apr 2027
Position 13, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad19 Apr 2027
84 days out for Ali Allamine after a fracture
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.
Market19 Apr 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam Souleymane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Youssouf Allamine, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
The numbers do not look good at AS Etat Major
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Apr 2027
Hassan Haroun 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
91 days out for Ali Allamine after a fracture
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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
33 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
Hassan Haroun 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 dugout12 Apr 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
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Ali Moustapha has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at AS Etat Major can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad5 Apr 2027
98 days out for Ali Allamine after a fracture
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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Mahamat 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 dugout5 Apr 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.
Loan watch5 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 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad5 Apr 2027
AS Etat Major are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Market5 Apr 2027
Ali Doungous returns from a loan that taught him nothing
0 appearances and 0 clean sheets. A goalkeeper learns his job by playing it, and a season that gave him neither the games nor the shut-outs is a year taken off the front of a career.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Mar 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
A 0‑3 beating by AS PSI was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match27 Mar 2027
6 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Narcisse 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The dugout29 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for AS Etat Major
Position 12 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match20 Mar 2027
0‑4 to Galactik, 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to AS Etat Major's wait for a win
5 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.
Market22 Mar 2027
Ahmat Djimet 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.
Market22 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam Souleymane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 dugout22 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
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 watch22 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 30 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Marked 7.87 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
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.
Market15 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Haroun, and the manager let it.
Loan watch15 Mar 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 3 appearances in 28 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout15 Mar 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 2‑3 Ali Moustapha left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Oumar Oumar 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑7 by US Moursal, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Moustapha has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad8 Mar 2027
There were 7 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmat Haroun and AS Etat Major agree another 4 years.
Match6 Mar 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and US Moursal in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch8 Mar 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 4 appearances in 30 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Anger at AS Etat Major spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the AS Etat Major boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 Mar 2027
Hassan Haroun 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Marked 7.64 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Narcisse 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.
Loan watch1 Mar 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 2 appearances in 27 say he has earned the hearing.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdoulaye Mbaiguedem 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
A goal on 93 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdramane Haroun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for AS Etat Major
Position 11 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market22 Feb 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adam Souleymane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 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.
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
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdramane Haroun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
18 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Foullah Edifice were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market15 Feb 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Loan watch15 Feb 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 3 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
At 18 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdoulaye Mahamat is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2027
18 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS DGSSIE waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market8 Feb 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.
Loan watch8 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ahmat Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdramane Haroun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jan 2027
16 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Jan 2027
23 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.
Match25 Jan 2027
Position 13, 4 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market25 Jan 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Etat Major have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer from Galactik for Mahamat Allamine 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. AS Etat Major have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Loan watch25 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 23 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Market18 Jan 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 Jan 2027
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market18 Jan 2027
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Jan 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Youssouf Mbainaissem has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Looking ahead18 Jan 2027
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
15 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑5 by Renaissance, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market11 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS Etat Major may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch11 Jan 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 3 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
14 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the AS Etat Major board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Pressure builds in the AS Etat Major boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market4 Jan 2027
a squad player asks to leave AS Etat Major
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS Etat Major may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Narcisse 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Ali Haroun again, and this time the name on the line is AS PSI. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
12 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 1‑6 beating by AS PSI was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match28 Dec 2026
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market28 Dec 2026
Hassan Haroun 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS Etat Major may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match26 Dec 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between AS Etat Major and AS PSI, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match12 Dec 2026
AS Etat Major are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market14 Dec 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and Stars Jeunes Talents in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Oumar Moustapha 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.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match5 Dec 2026
10 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
0‑3 against US Moursal, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match5 Dec 2026
AS Etat Major are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Ezechiel Abakar: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Narcisse 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.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
79 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to AS Etat Major's wait for a win
9 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.
Match30 Nov 2026
2 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market30 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
8 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at AS Etat Major now.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
86 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match21 Nov 2026
1‑5 to Elect Sport, 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match21 Nov 2026
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market23 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match21 Nov 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and Elect Sport in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
7 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Oumar Moustapha, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.92
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
“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.
Match14 Nov 2026
AS Etat Major are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Ahmat Haroun was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 1‑4 beating by Aiglons was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match4 Nov 2026
AS PSI go through and AS Etat Major go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match7 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for AS Etat Major
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around AS Etat Major are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Oumar Moustapha, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market9 Nov 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 AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Match7 Nov 2026
No clean sheets in sight for AS Etat Major
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Narcisse 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
114 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market26 Oct 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 AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Ahmat Djimet
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Djimet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Youssouf Mbainaissem has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Issa Mahamat 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Loan watch26 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 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Match24 Oct 2026
A 2‑2 draw with AS Algoy leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 121 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.
Market19 Oct 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 AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Youssouf Allamine has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ahmat Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Market19 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Narcisse Mbaiguedem signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market19 Oct 2026
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs AS Etat Major money.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Ezechiel Abakar 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
Squad12 Oct 2026
128 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Oumar Moustapha, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.82
A mark of 7.82 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ezechiel Abakar is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Narcisse 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Renaissance left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to AS DGSSIE to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Etat Major and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 7 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
Market5 Oct 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 AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 18 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
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market5 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdramane Adoum has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market5 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adam 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Djibrine Ngaradoumbe is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
142 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.
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdoulaye Djimet is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Hassan Haroun has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Loan watch28 Sep 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 Sep 2026
Issa Mahamat 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
Steady
Market21 Sep 2026
“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.
Market21 Sep 2026
AS DGSSIE 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ali Mbainaissem is a better footballer than he was
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Mahamat 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.
Loan watch21 Sep 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 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Narcisse Mbaiguedem signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer from Aiglons for Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Ali Allamine 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market31 Aug 2026
Gazelle pay $25.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Issa Mahamat 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Oumar Oumar 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 dugout31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmat Adoum and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Aiglons for Issa 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. AS Etat Major have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Narcisse Mbaiguedem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Idriss Abba and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Idriss Abba 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
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Etat Major have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market17 Aug 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.
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 Galactik, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Narcisse 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Adam Haroun again, and this time the name on the line is Galactik. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Youssouf Allamine, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
AS Etat Major have made the call to Galactik. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Issa Ngaradoumbe and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ali Allamine is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Etat Major has been clear about where Ali Allamine stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Youssouf Allamine and AS Etat Major agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Issa Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Aug 2026
No place for Adam Haroun in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Adam Haroun has his answer from AS Etat Major; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout10 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Saleh Djimet has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ali Allamine and AS Etat Major agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Renaissance: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market3 Aug 2026
Oumar Moustapha is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Etat Major has been clear about where Oumar Moustapha stands, which is more than many ever get.