Marked for Salem Al-Harbi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Batin
0‑3 against Al-Riyadh, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 5 of the 24 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad31 Aug 2026
39 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad31 Aug 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-Batin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Youssouf M'Changama, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Batin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Turki Al-Jalfan 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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
4.56. 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Sultan Al-Sheikh out for 73 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.
Market31 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Al-Mojzel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Yasser Al-Shammari has come up in conversations Al-Mojzel were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Salem Al-Subaie 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Al-Ta'ee, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Sultan Al-Sheikh out for 80 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ali Al-Sheikh 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.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
1‑3 to Al-Jeel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sultan Al-Dawsari 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.