Marked for Abdoulaye Abakar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Idriss Adoum 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
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad3 May 2027
Ali Bechir slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ali Bechir is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad3 May 2027
One of our own is behind an import at US Moursal
He is 27, he has been here since he was a boy, and the shirt he grew up expecting has been given to somebody flown in for it. That grievance belongs to the town as much as to the player.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Narcisse Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Marius Djimet: 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.” US Moursal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Hassan Allamine and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at US Moursal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moussa Moustapha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to a squad player, and the manager let it.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ahmat Mbaiguedem signs something — a contract at US Moursal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ali Bechir 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 Ali Bechir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Saleh Oumar: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one US Moursal will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Next up at home: Aiglons, who go into it in position 4. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
No end in sight to AS PSI's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AS PSI has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at AS PSI
Brahim Goudja 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nassar Koulelengar and AS PSI agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brahim Goudja makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Moussa Ndoram chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at AS PSI training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Abakar 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match6 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. CotonTchad will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Narcisse Mahamat damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Market28 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Bark Abdramane is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at AS PSI
Brahim Goudja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 107% of the AS PSI income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Félix Noubara has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at AS PSI will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdoulaye Abakar, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead28 Dec 2026
AS Algoy next, and one man in the AS PSI dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market28 Dec 2026
The name of Fabrice Djimhoué keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AS PSI say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Narcisse Mahamat damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Mahamat Adam Ali scored in the 88th minute, AS DGSSIE had already begun thinking about the journey home, and AS PSI took the lot.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Dec 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Mahamat Adam Ali’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AS PSI.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at AS PSI
Brahim Goudja 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 terraces14 Dec 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdramane Oumar is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Dec 2026
No end in sight to US Moursal's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at US Moursal has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I did not go to AS PSI to sit and watch. I want to come back to US Moursal and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at US Moursal
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oumar Youssouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Dec 2026
A point taken on 91 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Marius 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
It needed Marius Mbaiguedem to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against AS Algoy, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Narcisse Hissein was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the US Moursal dressing room was either.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Noël Allaramadji 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
Squad7 Dec 2026
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS PSI lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for AS PSI
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around AS PSI are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
CotonTchad left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Dec 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 PSI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Ezechiel Mbaiguedem
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem has come out of that comparison in the side, and AS PSI have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Bark Abdramane 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Narcisse Mahamat
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS PSI lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Nov 2026
Stars Jeunes Talents left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at AS PSI
Brahim Goudja 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Moussa Ndoram to a room that had heard them before.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at AS PSI
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Abakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Félix Noubara gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Félix Noubara is on it.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ali Issa Blagué’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Narcisse Mahamat damages knee ligaments — 65 days out
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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A debut Ali Moustapha will not forget — 8.31
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 8.31 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saleh Ngaradoumbe 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad9 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 PSI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad2 Nov 2026
Narcisse Mahamat damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Abdoulaye 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 PSI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
AS PSI told to sell
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Mahamat Adam Ali was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.95. 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Mahamat Adam Ali’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AS PSI.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at AS PSI
Brahim Goudja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
105% of the income goes out in wages at AS PSI
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Squad
Mahamat Adam Ali named player of the month
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS PSI lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 20 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at AS PSI
Ezechiel 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at AS PSI training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Abakar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Issa Ndoram
“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 Oct 2026
Adam Bechir 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 PSI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
AS PSI had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at US Moursal, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market31 Aug 2026
AS PSI get their man
The chase for Narcisse Mahamat ended with $37.0K changing hands and AS Algoy out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Algoy have kept their man, and AS PSI go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at AS PSI
Brahim Goudja 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at AS PSI
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Abakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AS PSI will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
Issa Hissein 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 US Moursal can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and US Moursal did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Issa Hissein has come up in conversations US Moursal were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $45.6K — a club that wants Abdramane Hissein enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
US Moursal have gone to AS Etat Major with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Algoy have kept their man, and US Moursal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ali Abakar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Oumar Youssouf
“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.