There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.35 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. a squad player has, at USM Alger, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dramane Kamagaté and USM Alger agree another 4 years.
MC Alger will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Anis Khemaissia has pre-agreed a move to USM Alger, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Houssemeddine Ghacha’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to USM Alger.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Words at USM Alger training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ghiles Guenaoui 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 dugout8 Dec 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Adam Djabou kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdoulaye Coulibaly will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Liberty Professionals the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Hearts of Oak 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.
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.
Kwadwo Afful and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Afriyie Afful 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.
Liberty Professionals asked and Stade Malien said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
A loan enquiry to New Edubiase United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Liberty Professionals have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everything agreed with Niger Tornadoes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Liberty Professionals this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Afriyie Afful and Liberty Professionals agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stephen Kwakye 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.
Nobody at Liberty Professionals 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liberty Professionals people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Kwadwo Afful 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.
Liberty Professionals asked and New Edubiase United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nana Ayew was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Liberty Professionals have made the call to Najran. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Liberty Professionals have made the call to Wa All Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Liberty Professionals is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Liberty Professionals had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bechem United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Liberty Professionals have made the call to AGF. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Liberty Professionals have made the call to New Edubiase United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Ernest Kudus is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liberty Professionals people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Wellington Phoenix 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Liberty Professionals this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Liberty Professionals asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Nana Ayew 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Liberty Professionals, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Liberty Professionals, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Medeama have kept their man, and Liberty Professionals go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Nana Ayew 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.
Mustafa Yahaya 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.
A loan enquiry to Wellington Phoenix: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Samuel Boateng is on it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Liberty Professionals has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Liberty Professionals know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
David Inusah 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.
Liberty Professionals have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Henry Ezeonye signs something — a contract at Hasaacas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
22 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ajax Cape Town had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liberty Professionals people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Mensah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Liberty Professionals the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Liberty Professionals had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Vojvodina, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Liberty Professionals this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Liberty Professionals asked and Wa All Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Liberty Professionals can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Berekum Chelsea for a squad player 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.
Kwadwo Afful 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.
Liberty Professionals have made the call to Vojvodina. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Samuel Boateng is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Liberty Professionals. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The offer from Nomme Kalju for Afriyie Afful 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.
Kwadwo Afful 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.
Liberty Professionals asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdul Karim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nana Ayew 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.
Add another name to the list: Berekum Chelsea have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about a squad player. The answer from Liberty Professionals has not changed — yet.
Stephen Appiah Asare 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.
Liberty Professionals have made the call to Medeama. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.