Marked for Abdramane Bechir
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Dec 2040
Renaissance will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Galactik were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad3 Dec 2040
A day Amad Keita will not forget
4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings3 Dec 2040
Age has not caught Amad Keita yet — 9.96
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad3 Dec 2040
221 appearances across 14 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Galactik know what they have.
Match1 Dec 2040
No clean sheets in sight for Galactik
8 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.
Market3 Dec 2040
Marius 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 Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 Dec 2040
The scrutiny sharpens at Galactik
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Galactik is running low.
Match1 Dec 2040
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Galactik and Renaissance, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad3 Dec 2040
Alex Warai 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces12 Nov 2040
Anger at Galactik spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Player ratings12 Nov 2040
No sign of nerves from Saleh Allamine at 19 — 8.22
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Saleh Allamine did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market12 Nov 2040
Ali Abakar has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Galactik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Nov 2040
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market12 Nov 2040
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Galactik can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Nov 2040
Galactik are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad12 Nov 2040
Alex Warai in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Nov 2040
CotonTchad made Galactik work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad12 Nov 2040
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
Squad24 Sep 2040
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdramane Bechir
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market24 Sep 2040
“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.
Squad24 Sep 2040
Abdoul Aziz Coulibaly 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.
Boardroom24 Sep 2040
128% of the income goes out in wages at Galactik
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad24 Sep 2040
Amad Keita has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Galactik 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.
Market24 Sep 2040
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Maxwell Odundo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 Sep 2040
Anger at Galactik spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad17 Sep 2040
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdramane Bechir
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 Sep 2040
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Galactik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 Sep 2040
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Sep 2040
64 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad17 Sep 2040
Alex Warai in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Sep 2040
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdramane Bechir
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom10 Sep 2040
Pressure builds in the Galactik boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market10 Sep 2040
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Sep 2040
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Aziz Coulibaly 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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2040
The Galactik debt reaches $6.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad10 Sep 2040
Youssouf Abdraman has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Galactik 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.
Market10 Sep 2040
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Abdraman’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad10 Sep 2040
Maxwell Odundo joins up with his country. Galactik lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
Market10 Sep 2040
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Monwabisi Mwondla may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Sep 2040
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdramane Bechir
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom3 Sep 2040
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Djibrine Ngaradoumbe has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom3 Sep 2040
The Galactik board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market3 Sep 2040
Galactik say no — this time
The offer from Gazelle for Ali Abakar 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.
Squad3 Sep 2040
Ali Abakar has been here 13 seasons
239 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Market3 Sep 2040
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Galactik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market3 Sep 2040
“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.
Squad3 Sep 2040
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Youssouf Abdraman and Galactik agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Sep 2040
Alex Warai in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Aug 2040
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdramane Bechir
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad27 Aug 2040
Alex Warai 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.
Squad27 Aug 2040
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Aziz Coulibaly 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces20 Aug 2040
Anger at Galactik spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad20 Aug 2040
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdramane Bechir
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Galactik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Aug 2040
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market20 Aug 2040
Add another name to the list: Renaissance have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mahamat Allamine. The answer from Galactik has not changed — yet.
Squad20 Aug 2040
Alex Warai in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Aug 2040
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
Squad13 Aug 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Boardroom13 Aug 2040
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Galactik
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad13 Aug 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Aug 2040
Galactik are $6.5M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Squad13 Aug 2040
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.
Squad13 Aug 2040
“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
Squad6 Aug 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 67 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
Boardroom6 Aug 2040
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Djibrine Ngaradoumbe has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom6 Aug 2040
Crisis meeting at Galactik
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market6 Aug 2040
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Galactik have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad6 Aug 2040
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Amad Keita commits to Galactik for another 2 years.
Squad6 Aug 2040
Alex Warai 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.
Boardroom6 Aug 2040
$248.7K of the owner's money at Galactik
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad6 Aug 2040
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Aziz Coulibaly 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.
Boardroom6 Aug 2040
No signings allowed at Galactik
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Jul 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Market30 Jul 2040
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Galactik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Jul 2040
Alex Warai in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2040
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.
Boardroom30 Jul 2040
101% of the income goes out in wages at Galactik
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad30 Jul 2040
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
Crisis
Squad23 Jul 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 81 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
The terraces23 Jul 2040
The mood at Galactik 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.
Market23 Jul 2040
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad23 Jul 2040
Amad Keita has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Galactik 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.
Squad23 Jul 2040
Ali 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.
Market23 Jul 2040
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Monwabisi Mwondla signs something — a contract at Galactik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Jul 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 88 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Boardroom16 Jul 2040
The scrutiny sharpens at Galactik
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Galactik is running low.
Squad16 Jul 2040
Alex Warai in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2040
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.
Market16 Jul 2040
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Galactik will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad16 Jul 2040
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jul 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 95 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Market9 Jul 2040
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Galactik have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad9 Jul 2040
“The easiest signature of my career.” Prince Tchatat and Galactik agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2040
Alex Warai 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.
Squad9 Jul 2040
Words at Galactik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Aziz Coulibaly 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.
Boardroom9 Jul 2040
No signings allowed at Galactik
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Jul 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 102 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2040
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Galactik can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom2 Jul 2040
The Galactik board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market2 Jul 2040
“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.
Market2 Jul 2040
The name of Ali Abakar has come up in conversations Galactik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad2 Jul 2040
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Prince Tchatat and Galactik agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Jul 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Jul 2040
The owner puts $261.2K into Galactik
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Boardroom2 Jul 2040
Wages eat 116% of everything Galactik 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jun 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 109 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
The terraces25 Jun 2040
The mood at Galactik 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.
Squad25 Jun 2040
Alex Warai 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
Squad18 Jun 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 116 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
Boardroom18 Jun 2040
The scrutiny sharpens at Galactik
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Galactik is running low.
Squad18 Jun 2040
Brahim Goudja 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.
Squad18 Jun 2040
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.
Squad18 Jun 2040
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.
Market18 Jun 2040
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Youssouf Abdraman signs something — a contract at Galactik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jun 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 123 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
Market11 Jun 2040
Galactik say no — this time
The offer from Gazelle for Ali Abakar 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 Jun 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom11 Jun 2040
No signings allowed at Galactik
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom11 Jun 2040
The Galactik debt reaches $6.6M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Market11 Jun 2040
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Galactik, another week without a signature from Narcisse Mbaiguedem.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jun 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 130 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2040
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Djibrine Ngaradoumbe has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom4 Jun 2040
The Galactik board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market4 Jun 2040
“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 Galactik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Jun 2040
The name of Ali Abakar has come up in conversations Galactik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jun 2040
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxwell Odundo and Galactik agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Jun 2040
Brahim Goudja 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2040
The owner puts $272.5K into Galactik
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad4 Jun 2040
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
Squad28 May 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 137 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 137 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.
The terraces28 May 2040
The mood at Galactik 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.
Squad28 May 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 May 2040
Abdramane Bechir damages knee ligaments — 144 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 144 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.
Boardroom21 May 2040
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Galactik
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad21 May 2040
Brahim Goudja 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 ratings31 Oct 2039
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.72, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 Oct 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Galactik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings31 Oct 2039
Age has not caught Amad Keita yet — 7.86
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.86 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad31 Oct 2039
Brahim Goudja 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.
Match29 Oct 2039
3‑4 to Stars Jeunes Talents, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match29 Oct 2039
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Galactik and Stars Jeunes Talents in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad31 Oct 2039
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.
Squad31 Oct 2039
The manager makes an example of Maxwell Odundo
“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 Oct 2039
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
Crisis
Squad26 Sep 2039
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad26 Sep 2039
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Galactik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom26 Sep 2039
No signings allowed at Galactik
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad26 Sep 2039
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.
Squad26 Sep 2039
Youssouf Abdraman has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Galactik 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.
Market26 Sep 2039
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Benjamin Ngakoutou’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Feb 2039
Beaten 2‑6 by AS DGSSIE, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market21 Feb 2039
“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.
Market21 Feb 2039
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Galactik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match19 Feb 2039
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Galactik and AS DGSSIE in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad21 Feb 2039
Alex Warai 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.
Squad21 Feb 2039
Maxwell Odundo 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 ratings21 Feb 2039
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Galactik will not try tonight.
Squad21 Feb 2039
“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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2039
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.