Marked for Marius Mahamat
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 May 2027
“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.
Market31 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Aditya Warman
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aditya Warman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around US Moursal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 May 2027
Boburbek Yorbekov 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Aditya Warman 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.
Squad31 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. US Moursal told Brahim Souleymane something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad31 May 2027
Marius 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 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 The request is on a desk at US Moursal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Djibrine 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahim Souleymane 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Marius 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brahim Souleymane signs something — a contract at US Moursal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market12 Apr 2027
US Moursal have let the market know Brahim Souleymane can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for US Moursal
Position 13 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market22 Feb 2027
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 US Moursal can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Abdramane Abba
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdramane Abba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around US Moursal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Feb 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 US Moursal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boburbek Yorbekov 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Marius 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The Oumar Abakar story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oumar Abakar signs something — a contract at US Moursal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
20 starts now, an average of 6.54, and the team sheet at Galactik has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Jan 2027
11 matches without a win for US Moursal
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around US Moursal are no longer polite ones.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
The mood at US Moursal 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑5 by AS PSI, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market1 Feb 2027
Oumar Abakar 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 US Moursal can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at US Moursal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match30 Jan 2027
US Moursal 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Brahim Souleymane 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Boburbek Yorbekov 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
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ezechiel Oumar
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. US Moursal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Nov 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.
Match30 Nov 2026
US Moursal are in real trouble now
Position 12, 5 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.
Squad30 Nov 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 US Moursal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; US Moursal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at US Moursal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boburbek Yorbekov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
AS Algoy left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Nov 2026
US Moursal have made Ezechiel Djimet available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.