Marked for Mahmoud Al Suwaidi
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Abdullah Al Shamsi 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Al Ahli made Al Shaab work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hicham Khaloua, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Amer Ismail: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Al Shaab have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Fee done, terms next for Saeed Omar
Al Shaab and Al Ahli have settled on $670.0K. 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.
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 Al Shaab can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Al Shaab close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 3 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The offer went to Al Nasr this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $757.9K — a club that wants Saeed Omar enough to be asked twice.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Graduation day at Al Shaab
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al Shaab
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdullah Al Shamsi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Al Shaab
Mohammed Abdulbasit and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Sep 2026
The phone has started ringing about Thiago Machado again, and this time the name on the line is Al Nasr. Al Shaab are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$3.3M on the table at Al Ahli. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hamad Obaid and Al Shaab agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Hamad Obaid 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 Al Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Youssef Hussain 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hamad Hussain, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Hamad Obaid 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 Al Shaab, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mahmoud Al Suwaidi has his answer from Al Shaab; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Youssef Hussain keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al Shaab say nothing, which says plenty.