Central Midfielder - Damac
25 May 2030
Saturday
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Marked for

199 Edition

The Damac Gazette

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad20 May 2030

Olawale Onanuga damages knee ligaments — 84 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 84 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad20 May 2030

Morlaye Sylla honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Damac had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Squad20 May 2030

Tempers go at Damac

Sattam Al-Lehiyani 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.

Boardroom20 May 2030

Thabiso Msane will join Damac for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Thabiso Msane has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Damac have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Squad20 May 2030

A row about effort at Damac

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yahya Naji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout20 May 2030

Bader Kabli 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.

In brief

Back issues
173 Edition

The Damac Gazette

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad19 Nov 2029

106 days out for Chakib Aoudjane after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Damac will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match19 Nov 2029

Damac up to position 3

22 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

The dugout19 Nov 2029

Chakib Aoudjane keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Damac may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad19 Nov 2029

Words exchanged at Damac

Abdelkader Bedrane 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 dugout19 Nov 2029

No hiding place for Hamza Hassan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hamza Hassan, and the manager let it.

Market19 Nov 2029

Morlaye Sylla linked with a move away

The name of Morlaye Sylla keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Damac say nothing, which says plenty.

Looking ahead19 Nov 2029

Sattam Al-Lehiyani faces his old club

Al-Fayha next, and one man in the Damac dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

The dugout19 Nov 2029

Mohammed Al-Nuqaydan 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.

The dugout19 Nov 2029

Ammar Al-Ammar has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Damac 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.

In brief

163 Edition

The Damac Gazette

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad10 Sep 2029

Words exchanged at Damac

Sattam Al-Lehiyani 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.

Squad10 Sep 2029

Words at Damac training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yahya Naji 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 dugout10 Sep 2029

No hiding place for Chakib Aoudjane

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chakib Aoudjane, and the manager let it.

The dugout10 Sep 2029

A promise honoured at Damac

Something was said to Bader Kabli and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Squad10 Sep 2029

Too much change too quickly at Damac

5 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.

Squad10 Sep 2029

Denis Bazygin stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Bazygin and Damac agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout10 Sep 2029

Bader Kabli 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 Bader Kabli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Looking ahead10 Sep 2029

A reunion for Thamer Al-Dhafeeri

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Batin in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Market10 Sep 2029

The Yahya Naji story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yahya Naji signs something — a contract at Damac or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief