Marked for Ezechiel Mbaiguedem
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Dec 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market3 Dec 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at AS Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Jordan Fotso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Issa Mbaiguedem ran the middle of the pitch — 6.88
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.88, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ahmat Abakar was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the AS Etat Major dressing room was either.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Ahmat Doungous falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezechiel Mbaiguedem, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Oct 2029
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Etat Major lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Brahim Haroun
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brahim Haroun will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS Etat Major may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Jordan Fotso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch15 Oct 2029
“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 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahamat Djimet and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Ndoram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
“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
Squad8 Oct 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Djibrine Adoum
30 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.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
“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.
Market8 Oct 2029
Moussa Bechir 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 Oct 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ali Ngaradoumbe and AS Etat Major agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Oct 2029
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.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
6 academy players handed senior numbers at AS Etat Major
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Match6 Oct 2029
1‑2 to AS DGSSIE, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces8 Oct 2029
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Market8 Oct 2029
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Idriss Hissein 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
Uneasy
Squad20 Aug 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Djibrine Adoum
79 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.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
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.
Market20 Aug 2029
“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.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Etat Major have done the hard part with Foullah Edifice, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Issa 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.
Market20 Aug 2029
Add another name to the list: AS Algoy have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abdramane Abakar. The answer from AS Etat Major has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2029
AS Etat Major asked and Gazelle said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oumar Haroun, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Aug 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Djibrine Adoum
86 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.
Market13 Aug 2029
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.
Market13 Aug 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Jordan Fotso 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.
Market13 Aug 2029
The name of Youssouf Ndoram has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
A loan move for Florent Warna is in the works
AS Etat Major have made the call to Foullah Edifice. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
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.
Market25 Jun 2029
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.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
AS Algoy 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.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Etat Major have done the hard part with Renaissance, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Jordan Fotso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
The Jordan Fotso story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jordan Fotso signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Adam Abakar 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
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS Algoy waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market18 Jun 2029
Oumar 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.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
AS Etat Major had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Elect Sport, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Jordan Fotso 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
The phone has started ringing about Abdramane Abakar again, and this time the name on the line is AS Algoy. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Aiglons have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market18 Jun 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Djibrine Allamine may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Ahmat Doungous 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 dugout18 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Oumar Bechir
“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
Uneasy
Market11 Jun 2029
“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.
Market11 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Foullah Edifice waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market11 Jun 2029
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” US Moursal had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Everything agreed with Gazelle, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Jordan Fotso 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.
Market11 Jun 2029
AS Algoy 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 dugout11 Jun 2029
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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Ahmat Doungous 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 May 2029
“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.
Squad14 May 2029
Issa 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ali Abba and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmat Doungous was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmat Doungous, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 May 2029
Ahmat Mbaiguedem 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
Uneasy
Market20 Nov 2028
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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Oumar Haroun 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Djibrine 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.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aiglons in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Marius 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market20 Nov 2028
AS Etat Major have let the market know Ezechiel Ndoram can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
Next up on the road: Aiglons, position 2. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The interim tag comes off Ahmat Abakar
AS Etat Major interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Ahmat Abakar keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Match21 Oct 2028
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.
Market23 Oct 2028
“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.
Market23 Oct 2028
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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Jordan Fotso 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
Renaissance left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Oct 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AS Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Brahim Abakar
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brahim Abakar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Jordan Fotso 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djibrine Haroun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market16 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jordan Fotso’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“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.
Market16 Oct 2028
AS Etat Major have made Hassan Haroun available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
Next up at home: Renaissance, who go into it in position 3. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Oumar Bechir is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Oct 2028
“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 Oct 2028
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.
Market9 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Brahim Haroun
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brahim Haroun will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS Etat Major may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Jordan Fotso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
Still nobody in the AS Etat Major dugout
8 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Djibrine Haroun falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adam Ndoram and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Oumar Haroun reports back to AS Etat Major with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market11 Sep 2028
Brahim Haroun has one foot out of the door
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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Market11 Sep 2028
The offer from Galactik for Youssouf Ndoram 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Issa 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Moustapha 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 Sep 2028
Ezechiel Ndoram asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Marius Abba called up by his country
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at AS Etat Major that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.