Marked for Djibrine Mahamat
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aiglons have done the hard part with Renaissance, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Yannick Saleh 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 at Aiglons 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Djibrine 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market19 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad19 Jul 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Aiglons has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Supporters organise against the Aiglons 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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Aiglons
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market28 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Christian Ramadjingaye again, and this time the name on the line is Binga. Aiglons are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Yannick Masra 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djibrine Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Abdoulaye Difane has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Foullah Edifice had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Abderamane 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Aiglons
Brahim Hissein and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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 Christian Ramadjingaye is on it.
The dugout21 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Aiglons did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ahmat Abderamane 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.
Squad14 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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Idriss Allamine has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Aiglons that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Jun 2027
Aiglons are in real trouble now
Position 11, 13 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Aiglons did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Yannick Masra 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Djibrine 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market7 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Aiglons 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Aiglons boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Yannick Masra
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmat Abderamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
Abdoulaye Difane has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 May 2027
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Djibrine 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Yannick Masra breaks a bone — 14 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Aiglons
Djibrine Oumar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djibrine Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
28 days out for Yannick Masra after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aiglons will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces3 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Aiglons 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Aiglons
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Aiglons is running low.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aiglons may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom3 May 2027
An order from above at Aiglons: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Abderamane 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Brahim Hissein 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Christian Ramadjingaye watches a signing take the shirt he was promised
At 27 the pathway was supposed to be open. Instead Aiglons went to the market, and a local readership is asking the question the academy staff are too diplomatic to ask out loud.
The dugout3 May 2027
Abdoulaye Difane has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Yannick Masra out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aiglons will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Aiglons
Brahim Hissein and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Djibrine 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
The name of Yannick Masra keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aiglons say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Djibrine Mahamat 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
Match12 Apr 2027
Aiglons are in real trouble now
Position 11, 13 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.
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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Djibrine 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
Idriss Allamine has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Yannick Saleh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aiglons say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nerves in the Aiglons squad
Yannick Masra has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Yannick Masra 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Djibrine 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
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Mar 2027
At last: Aiglons win one
18 matches without a win, and then this, against Stars Jeunes Talents. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match20 Mar 2027
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Stars Jeunes Talents had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Aiglons did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad22 Mar 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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
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 terraces22 Mar 2027
At 22 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Stars Jeunes Talents, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.58 on the card, and the Aiglons support went home talking about one name.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Yannick Masra 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
Match13 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Aiglons
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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑4 by US Moursal, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match15 Mar 2027
Aiglons sink to position 11
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom15 Mar 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Brahim Hissein 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Djibrine 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Feb 2027
16 matches without a win for Aiglons
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Aiglons are no longer polite ones.
Match27 Feb 2027
Aiglons cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Aiglons
Yannick Masra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match27 Feb 2027
Elect Sport left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Saleh Ngaradoumbe after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Djibrine 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Aiglons's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aiglons has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Yannick Saleh 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for Aiglons
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.
Match20 Feb 2027
0‑1 to Foullah Edifice, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Djibrine 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Aiglons's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aiglons has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aiglons may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market1 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 Aiglons, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Aiglons until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Match30 Jan 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Aiglons
4 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
1‑2 to AS Algoy, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead1 Feb 2027
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Aiglons know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Saleh Ngaradoumbe after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Jan 2027
9 matches without a win for Aiglons
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Aiglons are no longer polite ones.
Market11 Jan 2027
Galactik come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Aiglons did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Yannick Masra 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 dugout11 Jan 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
A goal on 95 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match9 Jan 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
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Looking ahead
A test against the best for Aiglons
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Squad
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
-
The dugout
Abdoulaye Difane has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Aiglons
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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market4 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 Aiglons, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Yannick Saleh 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
AS PSI left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Looking ahead4 Jan 2027
Everything rides on AS DGSSIE
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Aiglons know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Match4 Jan 2027
Aiglons at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 11, 8 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Saleh Ngaradoumbe to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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 Christian Ramadjingaye is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Dec 2026
Aiglons sink to position 11
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Aiglons
5 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Aiglons
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aiglons can tell you which week it ends in.
Match12 Dec 2026
US Moursal left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
A promise honoured at Aiglons
Something was said to Christian Ramadjingaye and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad14 Dec 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Aiglons lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Djibrine 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Gazelle, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market7 Dec 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 Aiglons can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for Aiglons
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Aiglons are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Aiglons
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aiglons can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ahmat Abderamane 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Aiglons 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.
The dugout7 Dec 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Saleh Ngaradoumbe to a room that had heard them before.
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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmat Abderamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 118% of everything Aiglons earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Aiglons
Brahim Hissein and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Saleh Ngaradoumbe was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aiglons dressing room was either.
Match28 Nov 2026
Point won or two lost for Aiglons?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Elect Sport? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market30 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
Yannick Masra 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 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Saleh Ngaradoumbe left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djibrine Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brahim Hissein, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Idriss Allamine has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aiglons 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad23 Nov 2026
At 14 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching. Places at Aiglons are won quietly and lost loudly, and this one was won.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Nov 2026
Aiglons through in the cup
A 2‑0 win over Galactik, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad9 Nov 2026
There were 8 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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 Aiglons can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Aiglons
Yannick Masra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
At 22 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
AS Etat Major made Aiglons work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.51. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Saleh Ngaradoumbe, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Aiglons
0‑4 against AS Algoy, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Aiglons: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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
“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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 118% of the Aiglons 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Aiglons 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djibrine Mahamat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
5 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout26 Oct 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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AS Algoy in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market26 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aiglons know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Narcisse Adoum 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Aiglons have made Djibrine Mahamat available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Looking ahead: the trip to AS Algoy
Position 5 for the hosts, a long journey for the away end, and a fixture that will look ordinary on paper right up until it is not.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and AS DGSSIE spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 7.80 at 14, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Market12 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 Aiglons can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 24 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.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
At 19 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over AS DGSSIE, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Aiglons
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmat Abderamane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Fabien Djedanoum 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 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 Aiglons this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 28 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Abderamane 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Idriss Allamine, and the manager let it.
Market28 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Christian Ramadjingaye signs something — a contract at Aiglons or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market7 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Aiglons close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Djibrine Abba is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Aiglons asked and Stars Jeunes Talents said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clock did what US Moursal would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Aiglons training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmat Abderamane 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Yannick Masra keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aiglons say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Aiglons would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Yannick Masra 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 Aiglons can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Aiglons have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The offer went to US Moursal this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$26.0K on the table at AS Algoy. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$4.0K was the most the club would pay and AS Etat Major were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ahmat Abderamane 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
He is 17, and nobody at Aiglons signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Aiglons
Brahim Hissein 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.