Marked for Ezechiel Bechir
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑3 to Elect Sport, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ezechiel Bechir 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.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the AS Etat Major dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Yassine Benhima
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Idriss Ndoram and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Haroun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Mohamed Diouri’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AS Etat Major.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Oumar Bechir
“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.
Loan watch16 Nov 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 Etat Major, and 1 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.73 on the card, and the AS Etat Major support went home talking about one name.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Issa Bechir on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Mohamed Diouri 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
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑6 to CotonTchad, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market2 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market2 Nov 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 Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A chastening introduction for Issa Ndoram — 5.75
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.75 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and CotonTchad in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Idriss Ndoram 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 dugout2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Bechir 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
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 24 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Idriss Ndoram and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Tokindang 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 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Idriss Ndoram, and the manager let it.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every AS Etat Major game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AS PSI runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market19 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Idriss Ndoram signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market19 Oct 2026
The clock does Mohamed Diouri’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee AS Etat Major could ask drops and the wages Mohamed Diouri can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑4 by Renaissance, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market12 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Oct 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market12 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Issa Souleymane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ezechiel Bechir is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 4 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Idriss Ndoram 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Diouri, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yassine Benhima is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Sep 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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Adam Tokindang has improved at 24, 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Adam Tokindang 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Mohamed Diouri 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ezechiel Bechir signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market28 Sep 2026
AS Etat Major have let the market know Olivier Mbarga can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market28 Sep 2026
The clock does Issa Souleymane’s negotiating for him
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee AS Etat Major could ask drops and the wages Issa Souleymane can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Sep 2026
The offer from AS PSI for Issa Souleymane 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Adam Abba to AS DGSSIE has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to AS Etat Major with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ezechiel Bechir is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Idriss Ndoram 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Moussa Mahamat to Gazelle has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to AS Etat Major with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
AS Etat Major close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Idriss Ndoram 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Issa Souleymane has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssouf Ngaradoumbe 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ahmat Abba
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.