Marked for Marius Mbainaissem
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hassan Bechir
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Brian Okeyo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stars Jeunes Talents have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stars Jeunes Talents they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market11 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Owen Payne and Stars Jeunes Talents agree another 1 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Hassan Abba 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I watch every Stars Jeunes Talents game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Elect Sport runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market11 Oct 2027
12 months and counting on Owen Payne
Still no offer on the table, and Owen Payne’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hassan Bechir
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Hassan Abba 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Loan watch13 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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hassan Bechir
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Omadillo Abdubannobov is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Brian Okeyo 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Hassan Abba has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hassan Bechir
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stars Jeunes Talents lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Aug 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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Hassan Abba 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Aditya Warman knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stars Jeunes Talents, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Narcisse Mbaiguedem is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer from Renaissance for Marius Mbainaissem 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stars Jeunes Talents they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Hassan Abba 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Aiglons are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Stars Jeunes Talents will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
“I did not go to Galactik to sit and watch. I want to come back to Stars Jeunes Talents and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 43 matches say the rest.
Squad28 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jan 2027
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Stars Jeunes Talents has to find a result from somewhere.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Stars Jeunes Talents have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Hassan Abba 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad4 Jan 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 watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every Stars Jeunes Talents 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.