Marked for Ahmat Hissein
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Nov 2028
0‑5 to Renaissance, 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.
Match27 Nov 2028
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market27 Nov 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdramane Adoum will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stars Jeunes Talents the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match25 Nov 2028
6 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
a squad player 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brahim Abakar and Stars Jeunes Talents agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Idriss Tokindang after 0‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Beaten 5 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Stars Jeunes Talents
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market2 Oct 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ezechiel Haroun has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market2 Oct 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdramane Adoum has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market2 Oct 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hassan Mbaiguedem has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Ezechiel Oumar
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS PSI waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Stars Jeunes Talents and US Moursal have settled on $3.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Stars Jeunes Talents close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 7 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Stars Jeunes Talents asked and US Moursal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Sep 2028
35 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
The clock did what AS PSI would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
Idriss Tokindang has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stars Jeunes Talents can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Aug 2028
Adam Haroun 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 Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
The deal with AS PSI is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Renaissance have kept their man, and Stars Jeunes Talents go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
A loan move for Narcisse Haroun is in the works
Stars Jeunes Talents have made the call to US Moursal. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Brahim Moustapha was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $34.7K, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
Market7 Aug 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jul 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market10 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: AS Algoy have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adam Bechir. The answer from Stars Jeunes Talents has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Adam Haroun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brahim Moustapha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“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.
Market10 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Patrick Dawa has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Jun 2028
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market26 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Foullah Edifice waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market26 Jun 2028
Adam Haroun 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 Stars Jeunes Talents can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jun 2028
The offer from AS DGSSIE for Adam Bechir 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jun 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
Ahmat Hissein gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ahmat Hissein is on it.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
Ezechiel Adoum knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ezechiel Adoum trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Jun 2028
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Adam Souleymane leaves Stars Jeunes Talents the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 May 2028
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
a squad player 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.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout15 May 2028
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.
Squad15 May 2028
Brahim Tokindang has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Squad15 May 2028
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 Stars Jeunes Talents would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Ezechiel Adoum out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stars Jeunes Talents will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Apr 2028
“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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Market17 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Ahmat Hissein gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ahmat Hissein is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Mar 2028
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Stars Jeunes Talents are no longer polite ones.
Match18 Mar 2028
1‑4 against Aiglons, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Nobody left the Stars Jeunes Talents 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.
Loan watch20 Mar 2028
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to Stars Jeunes Talents and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Beaten 4 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Looking ahead20 Mar 2028
Foullah Edifice next, and one man in the Stars Jeunes Talents dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market20 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Youssouf Allamine’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Feb 2028
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Stars Jeunes Talents are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Feb 2028
A 0‑3 beating by Renaissance was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match19 Feb 2028
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Stars Jeunes Talents 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.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
“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 33 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Mbaiguedem, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
12 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.
Match22 Jan 2028
0‑4 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stars Jeunes Talents have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Youssouf Allamine 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
“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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Loan watch24 Jan 2028
“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 29 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Idriss Tokindang after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Dec 2027
8 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market27 Dec 2027
Ezechiel Oumar has one foot out of the door
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.
Match25 Dec 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Loan watch27 Dec 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 25 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Idriss Tokindang after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Adam Haroun 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Youssouf, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Abdramane Abba knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdramane Abba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Nov 2027
Ezechiel Oumar has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Youssouf Allamine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch29 Nov 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 21 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Djibrine Souleymane, and the manager let it.
Market29 Nov 2027
The name of a squad player keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Stars Jeunes Talents say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Ahmat Hissein gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ahmat Hissein is on it.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Ezechiel Adoum 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Stars Jeunes Talents will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2027
13 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.
Market25 Oct 2027
Moussa Hissein has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Youssouf Allamine 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brahim Tokindang, and the manager let it.
Loan watch25 Oct 2027
“I watch every Stars Jeunes Talents game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AS Algoy runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Brahim Oumar
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces20 Sep 2027
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Stars Jeunes Talents is running low.
Match20 Sep 2027
Position 12 and 10 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.
Market20 Sep 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.
Market20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdramane Abba is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad20 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Adam Haroun 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.
The dugout20 Sep 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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces23 Aug 2027
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad23 Aug 2027
39 days out for Brahim Tokindang after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market23 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and US Moursal waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match23 Aug 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market23 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
At 22 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.
Market23 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Jul 2027
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.
Match26 Jul 2027
Position 12 and 10 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stars Jeunes Talents people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market26 Jul 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer from Galactik for Oumar Ngaradoumbe 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.
Market26 Jul 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
a squad player 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Oumar Abba 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
The terraces28 Jun 2027
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.
Match28 Jun 2027
Position 12, 10 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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Stars Jeunes Talents is running low.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stars Jeunes Talents people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
“I watch every Stars Jeunes Talents game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gazelle runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market28 Jun 2027
US Moursal 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces31 May 2027
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match31 May 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market31 May 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stars Jeunes Talents may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
Youssouf Allamine 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
Michael Iheanacho 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 watch31 May 2027
“I did not go to Aiglons to sit and watch. I want to come back to Stars Jeunes Talents and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
The dugout31 May 2027
Patrick Dawa 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
The terraces3 May 2027
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.
Match3 May 2027
Position 12 and 10 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Idriss Tokindang has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom3 May 2027
An order from above at Stars Jeunes Talents: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad3 May 2027
Youssouf Allamine 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 dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Abdramane 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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I watch every Stars Jeunes Talents game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Aiglons runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout3 May 2027
Patrick Dawa loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Patrick Dawa's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stars Jeunes Talents is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 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 Stars Jeunes Talents, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match5 Apr 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Dawa and Stars Jeunes Talents agree another 2 years.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Youssouf Allamine 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.
Loan watch5 Apr 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 5 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
Market5 Apr 2027
Idriss Mbaiguedem returns from a loan that taught him nothing
0 appearances and 0 clean sheets. A goalkeeper learns his job by playing it, and a season that gave him neither the games nor the shut-outs is a year taken off the front of a career.
The dugout5 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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stars Jeunes Talents know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Ahmat Hissein gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ahmat Hissein is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stars Jeunes Talents will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 Mar 2027
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Stars Jeunes Talents are no longer polite ones.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stars Jeunes Talents may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 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 Stars Jeunes Talents this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
1‑2 to Aiglons, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match20 Mar 2027
No time for Aiglons to settle
The goal that put Aiglons ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Stars Jeunes Talents equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Idriss Tokindang to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Souleymane, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Mar 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.
Market1 Mar 2027
Issa Oumar has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Youssouf Allamine and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Stars Jeunes Talents training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. a squad player 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Peter Yusuf, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Ahmat Hissein gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ahmat Hissein is on it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Stars Jeunes Talents would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.