Marked for Abdramane Doungous
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Felix Acquah commits to AS Etat Major for another 3 years.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Collins Boah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 Oct 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Youssouf 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.
Market25 Oct 2027
The Collins Boah story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Collins Boah signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at AS Etat Major 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.
Squad6 Sep 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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Collins Boah 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 dugout6 Sep 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 watch6 Sep 2027
“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 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Mahamat Souleymane has moved up it.
Market6 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hassan Youssouf signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Moussa Moustapha is 32, with 16 appearances behind him, and AS Etat Major will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
Match6 Sep 2027
AS Etat Major have something to play for
Position 5 on 39 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
Abdoulaye Doungous and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
AS Etat Major asked and CotonTchad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Collins Boah 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 dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Moussa Youssouf, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at AS Etat Major would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market19 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hassan Mahamat signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdramane Doungous trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
$37.0K 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Florent Warna 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The name of a squad player has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
AS Etat Major asked and AS PSI said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Collins Boah 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 watch7 Jun 2027
“I watch every AS Etat Major game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Galactik runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Abdoulaye Abakar 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
Market19 Apr 2027
Idriss 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.
Squad19 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Collins Boah 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
AS PSI left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Moussa Moustapha after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdoulaye Doungous signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
24 appearances at AS DGSSIE and the goals keep coming. AS Etat Major are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Apr 2027
Galactik will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. AS Etat Major were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 7.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Hamza Khaled 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 terraces12 Apr 2027
He is 21 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Mahamat Ali Hassan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moussa Bechir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Moussa Moustapha on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Moussa Bechir, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where AS Etat Major would like this to lead.