The Al Shabab Post
Squad8 Feb 2027
The knee: Rashed Omar out for 97 days
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Shabab lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Walid Yaqoob beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Mohammed Fawzi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Shabab have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market8 Feb 2027
Alessio Tagliabue puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Al Shabab, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Walid Al Suwaidi signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Walid Al Suwaidi commits to Al Shabab for another 5 years.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Al Shabab training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faisal Suqrat 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Allan Nyom named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Allan Nyom is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Fahad Al Naqbi gets it from the manager
“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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Walid Al Suwaidi 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 Walid Al Suwaidi is on it.