Marked for
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at US Bougouba
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at US Bougouba is running low.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market18 Sep 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 US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Yacouba Ouattara 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Chuks Faruk 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 dugout18 Sep 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at US Bougouba
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market21 Aug 2028
Urawa Reds come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and US Bougouba did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
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Squad21 Aug 2028
Ibrahim Hassan 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.
Market21 Aug 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 US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
US Bougouba asked and AS Police said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yacouba Ouattara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Praise Chimechetam and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ousmane Tamboura and US Bougouba agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Léger Djimrangar out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason US Bougouba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at US Bougouba
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market24 Jul 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 US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Djoliba have kept their man, and US Bougouba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Yacouba Ouattara 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 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samba Maiga and US Bougouba agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
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
Squad26 Jun 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the US Bougouba boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
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Squad26 Jun 2028
Yacouba Ouattara 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at US Bougouba
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout29 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market29 May 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 US Bougouba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at US Bougouba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yacouba Ouattara 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.
Squad29 May 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 US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 May 2028
A fracture rules Léger Djimrangar out for 109 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason US Bougouba will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Pressure builds in the US Bougouba boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout1 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market1 May 2028
a squad player asks to leave US Bougouba
“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.
Squad1 May 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 US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Yacouba Ouattara 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 dugout1 May 2028
The manager's exit leaves Léger Djimrangar exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Léger Djimrangar is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout1 May 2028
Bakary Camara has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at US Bougouba 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 dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cheick Kouyate, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Pressure builds in the US Bougouba boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The knee: Hamari Kone out for 25 days
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. US Bougouba lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Apr 2028
a squad player asks to leave US Bougouba
“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.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 Apr 2028
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bakary Sidibe and US Bougouba agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Falaye Sacko
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Oct 2027
32 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match30 Oct 2027
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Léger Djimrangar and US Bougouba agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
0‑2 to Etoiles du Mande, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Nov 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout1 Nov 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 ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.