Marked for Adam Souleymane
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for AS Algoy
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market1 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match27 Feb 2027
The goals have deserted AS Algoy
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at AS Algoy can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad1 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
US Moursal left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marius Doungous, and the manager let it.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid AS Algoy $3.0K. Ezechiel Adoum left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Tokindang trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
4.92 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for AS Algoy
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.
Market8 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marius Tokindang and AS Algoy agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Marius Youssouf was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match6 Feb 2027
Foullah Edifice left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Gazelle to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Algoy and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Youssouf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market28 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Marius Youssouf 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ezechiel Youssouf 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.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings28 Dec 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
5.38 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Dec 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market14 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 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 Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
0‑2 to Galactik, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Marius 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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A mark of 5.28 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.