Marked for
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Sep 2030
A season average of 7.04 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS DGSSIE know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market30 Sep 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS DGSSIE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdoulaye Haroun and AS DGSSIE agree another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Sep 2030
Marius Souleymane damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Market23 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS DGSSIE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Sep 2030
At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 4 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at AS DGSSIE
Abdramane Moustapha 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 Sep 2030
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Market23 Sep 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ezechiel Ndoram’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Sep 2030
Marius Souleymane damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Market2 Sep 2030
The bid was some way short and AS DGSSIE did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad2 Sep 2030
At 18, Abdoulaye Haroun is already the best thing here
An average of 7.04 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS DGSSIE have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Window shuts: 9 in, 11 out at AS DGSSIE
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market2 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS DGSSIE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ezechiel Ndoram commits to AS DGSSIE for another 4 years.
Transfer targets2 Sep 2030
AS DGSSIE have gone to Foullah Edifice 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.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at AS DGSSIE
a squad player 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.
Transfer targets2 Sep 2030
Stars Jeunes Talents wanted more than $13.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Aug 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marius Souleymane
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS DGSSIE lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market26 Aug 2030
Hassan Djimet has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS DGSSIE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Aug 2030
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The dugout26 Aug 2030
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The dugout26 Aug 2030
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Squad26 Aug 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdramane Doungous commits to AS DGSSIE for another 3 years.
The dugout26 Aug 2030
“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 DGSSIE, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Aug 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ezechiel Ndoram’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad26 Aug 2030
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Aug 2030
“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 DGSSIE, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Aug 2030
The bid was some way short and AS DGSSIE did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad5 Aug 2030
At 18, Abdoulaye Haroun is already the best thing here
An average of 7.04 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS DGSSIE have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Fee done, terms next for Edwin Simiyu
AS DGSSIE and Stars Jeunes Talents have settled on $27.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Squad5 Aug 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” a squad player and AS DGSSIE agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
No deal for Edwin Simiyu at that price
AS DGSSIE offered $13.0K; Stars Jeunes Talents said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Abdramane Moustapha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Aug 2030
news_b_reunited_with_his_manager
Market5 Aug 2030
The name of Hassan Djimet has come up in conversations AS DGSSIE were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Jul 2030
“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.
Market15 Jul 2030
Hassan Mahamat has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS DGSSIE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
AS DGSSIE have gone to Gazelle 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
a squad player 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.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
AS PSI wanted more than $3.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
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Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
AS PSI 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces27 May 2030
Supporters organise against the AS DGSSIE 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.
The dugout27 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS DGSSIE may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 May 2030
He is 20, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad27 May 2030
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 DGSSIE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout27 May 2030
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The dugout27 May 2030
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AS DGSSIE. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 May 2030
“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.
Squad6 May 2030
Words exchanged at AS DGSSIE
Abdramane Moustapha 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 dugout6 May 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Apr 2030
“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 DGSSIE can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Apr 2030
a squad player and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout8 Apr 2030
“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.
Market8 Apr 2030
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hassan Djimet has his answer from AS DGSSIE; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market8 Apr 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ezechiel Ndoram’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Apr 2030
The mood at AS DGSSIE 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.
Market1 Apr 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
“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.
Match30 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for AS DGSSIE
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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
He is 20, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad1 Apr 2030
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 DGSSIE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match30 Mar 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
“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
Steady
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.05, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market18 Feb 2030
Saleh 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 AS DGSSIE can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Feb 2030
At 18, Abdoulaye Haroun is already the best thing here
An average of 7.02 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS DGSSIE have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Market18 Feb 2030
Hassan Mahamat has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS DGSSIE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words exchanged at AS DGSSIE
a squad player 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.
Match16 Feb 2030
It finished 3‑2, and it was Hassan Djimet’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AS DGSSIE.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
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 dugout18 Feb 2030
The team sheet said everything about Moubarak Djibrine
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Moubarak Djibrine.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AS DGSSIE will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Nov 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS DGSSIE will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Marked 8.68 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market19 Nov 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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” a squad player and AS DGSSIE agree another 3 years.
The terraces19 Nov 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Hassan Djimet has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match17 Nov 2029
The drought breaks for AS DGSSIE
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Stars Jeunes Talents were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
Ali Haroun gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Hassan Mahamat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
No sign of nerves from Abdoulaye Haroun at 18 — 8.03
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Haroun did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad22 Oct 2029
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Match20 Oct 2029
Foullah Edifice left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The terraces22 Oct 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdoulaye Haroun has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
Ali Haroun gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
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.
Looking ahead22 Oct 2029
Elect Sport next, and one man in the AS DGSSIE dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market22 Oct 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS DGSSIE know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at AS DGSSIE
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at AS DGSSIE is running low.
Market24 Sep 2029
Saleh 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 AS DGSSIE can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad24 Sep 2029
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdoulaye Haroun commits to AS DGSSIE for another 3 years.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
Ali Haroun 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 Haroun trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
Ali Mbaiguedem has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at AS DGSSIE can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match6 Aug 2029
AS DGSSIE are in real trouble now
Position 11, 19 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.
Market6 Aug 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.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at US Moursal is saying, and nobody at AS DGSSIE is enjoying the guessing.
Market6 Aug 2029
Only the photograph left for Hassan Mahamat
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hassan Mahamat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS DGSSIE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Aug 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 DGSSIE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
$86.0K was the most the club would pay and Elect Sport 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.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
A loan move for Ahmat Djimet is in the works
AS DGSSIE have made the call to AS Algoy. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.