Marked for Ali Al-Ghamdi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces28 Feb 2028
The mood at Al-Mojzel has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match28 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for Al-Mojzel
Position 16 and 15 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A brace, and Youssef Al-Rashid takes the afternoon — 8.69
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Youssef Al-Rashid provided it, and the 8.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad28 Feb 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Hamad Al-Shehri 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.
Match26 Feb 2028
Al-Hazem made Al-Mojzel work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Feb 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Mojzel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match19 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market21 Feb 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.
Match19 Feb 2028
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamad Al-Shehri 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Fahad Al-Qibli 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Hamad Al-Shehri
“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 watch21 Feb 2028
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Batin runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces31 Jan 2028
The mood at Al-Mojzel has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match31 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Al-Mojzel
Position 16 and 12 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.
Market31 Jan 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.
Match29 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 Jan 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market31 Jan 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Mojzel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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 Jan 2028
A move Goga Shengelia would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Goga Shengelia is living that version at Al-Mojzel, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market31 Jan 2028
Fahad Al-Ahmadi has left for Al Nasr in a $140.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Mojzel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Mojzel is running low.
Market24 Jan 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match22 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Jan 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Al Nasr have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Fahad Al-Ahmadi. The answer from Al-Mojzel has not changed — yet.
Match22 Jan 2028
1‑3 to Al-Riyadh, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Thamer Al-Zahrani 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Ninety minutes of Bercy Langa Lessé at his very best
Marked 8.49. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Mojzel.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Nasser Al-Dosari out for 17 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Mojzel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
No sign of nerves from Rashid Al-Ghamdi at 21 — 7.65
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rashid Al-Ghamdi did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match8 Jan 2028
Ahmed Al-Sheikh scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Ohod, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad10 Jan 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Jan 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al-Mojzel and Ohod, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Hamad Al-Shehri
“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.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Marked 8.17 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Salman Al-Khaibari damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Market22 Nov 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Nov 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Thamer Al-Zahrani 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hussain Al-Qahtani, and the manager let it.
Match20 Nov 2027
Al-Nahda made Al-Mojzel work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Loan watch22 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 Al-Mojzel, and 0 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
An afternoon Sifiso Khune will want back
Marked 5.20. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Marked 5.53. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2027
12 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Market25 Oct 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Hussain Al-Qahtani 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
A bad afternoon for Al-Mojzel against Damac
1‑3 to Damac, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Faisal Al-Mansour, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Too much change too quickly at Al-Mojzel
9 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.
Loan watch25 Oct 2027
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hajer runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 4.98, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match25 Sep 2027
8 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad27 Sep 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalid Al-Zahrani 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
12 new faces, and Al-Mojzel are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hajer runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Shots: 4, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Sep 2027
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sami Al-Sheikh
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Mojzel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Sep 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑3 against Al-Faisaly, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market13 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match11 Sep 2027
5 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market13 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Mojzel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Thamer Al-Zahrani 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Rauno Vassiljev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
No sign of nerves from Rashid Al-Ghamdi at 21 — 7.68
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rashid Al-Ghamdi did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Saud Al-Ruwaili is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Aug 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market30 Aug 2027
Al-Shoulla paid $130.0K and Al-Mojzel took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Khalid Al-Zahrani has improved at 26, 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 terraces30 Aug 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hajer runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Mojzel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market23 Aug 2027
Al-Mojzel say no — this time
The offer from Al-Hazem for Faisal Al-Mansour 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammed Al-Subaie will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Mojzel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market23 Aug 2027
The fee is $430.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Hajer drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Khalid Hazazi is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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 terraces23 Aug 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Bercy Langa Lessé from Hajer for $430.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Al-Ghamdi 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
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.
Market16 Aug 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market16 Aug 2027
Al-Nahda come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Mojzel did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market16 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Mojzel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Saleh Al-Shammari has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Gabriel Rondon gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Gabriel Rondon has just signed for Al-Mojzel, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Al-Diriyah left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Mojzel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
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.
Market19 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Waleed Al-Qahtani has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The Al-Mojzel board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market5 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The name of Faisal Al-Harbi has come up in conversations Al-Mojzel were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market5 Jul 2027
The paperwork is done: Abdullah Al-Bahri joins from Hajer in a deal worth $72.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad5 Jul 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Abdullah Al-Bahri from Hajer for $72.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Al-Mojzel sign 4 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
$150.0K from Ohod for Yasser Al-Salem. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market28 Jun 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Al-Mojzel sell a favourite for $150.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Yasser Al-Salem was one of the reasons people came, and $150.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Youssef Al-Rashid has improved at 26, 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Al-Jeel come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Mojzel did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Saleh Al-Shammari is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market14 Jun 2027
The fee is $42.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Al-Jeel drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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 terraces14 Jun 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Abdulrahman Al-Shanqiti from Al-Jeel for $42.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Mojzel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The terraces24 May 2027
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
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.
Market24 May 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 May 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 watch24 May 2027
“I did not go to Al-Batin to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 38 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 May 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 Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 May 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Ahmed Al-Obaidli 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.
Squad3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Ali Al-Ghamdi
“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 Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hajer runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Anger at Al-Mojzel spills outside the ground
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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Mojzel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Mojzel is running low.
Market26 Apr 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.
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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faisal Al-Mansour 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.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Al-Batin to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 34 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Mojzel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Mojzel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Mojzel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 Mar 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Feb 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 Al-Mojzel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Feb 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faisal Al-Mansour 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Al-Orobah left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“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 watch22 Feb 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 Al-Mojzel, and 0 appearances in 28 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
5.22. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
5.42. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Mojzel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
51 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Feb 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 Al-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ali Al-Ghamdi 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 watch8 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Al-Qadisiyah to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
Match6 Feb 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Al-Mojzel pull $682.5K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
15 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Dec 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Mojzel
0‑3 against Al-Ta'ee, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Mojzel leaking at the back
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faisal Al-Mansour 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
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 watch14 Dec 2026
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Qadisiyah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
13 matches without a win for Al-Mojzel
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Al-Mojzel are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faisal Al-Mansour 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Mohammed Al-Sulami for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Al-Mojzel will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ali Al-Ghamdi
“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 watch30 Nov 2026
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hajer runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Al-Mojzel lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 5.28, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Mojzel and Al-Riyadh, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Faisal Al-Mansour 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 watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Al-Mojzel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ohod runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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
Crisis
Market28 Sep 2026
“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-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Al-Mojzel's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Mojzel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ahmed Al-Sheikh 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Hamad Al-Shehri
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“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 Al-Mojzel, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Salman Al-Shehri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rashid Al-Ghamdi is the weekend's best young player
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Mojzel
A 0‑4 beating by Al-Hazem was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market21 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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-Mojzel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Mojzel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salman Al-Shehri 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rashid Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Al-Mojzel 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 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Al-Qadisiyah to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Mojzel and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.