Marked for Abdullah Nader
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Mohamed Hussain out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Ahli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al Ahli
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 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 Ahli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Erik 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.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Al Junaibi 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.
Match29 Jan 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Ousmane Camara’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al Ahli.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Momodou Jatta, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ousmane Camara
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Ahli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match5 Jul 2027
Al Ahli sink to position 12
24 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al Ahli
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al Ahli is running low.
Market5 Jul 2027
The bid was some way short and Al Ahli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Ismail Al Junaibi 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market5 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Padideh have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Faisal Al Suwaidi. The answer from Al Ahli has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Jul 2027
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ousmane Camara
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Ahli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
The mood at Al Ahli 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.
Market28 Jun 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 Ahli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Momodou Jatta 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Al Ahli spend $1.1M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.1M has been paid because Momodou Jatta is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Ousmane Camara damages knee ligaments — 117 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
Match7 Jun 2027
Al Ahli are in real trouble now
Position 12, 24 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Al Ahli still without a manager
37 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad7 Jun 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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Jun 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Carlos Zambrano has his answer from Al Ahli; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nasser Khalfan and Al Ahli agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
Ousmane Camara damages knee ligaments — 124 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 124 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.
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Al Ahli 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Erik 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
Steady
Market17 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 Ahli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 May 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Josen Escobar wants continental football; whether Al Ahli can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Zambrano, and the manager let it.
Loan watch17 May 2027
“I did not go to Al Shaab to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al Ahli and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Squad17 May 2027
Hamad Hassan 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.
Market17 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rashid Al Junaibi signs something — a contract at Al Ahli or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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Squad
The manager comes out for Erik
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Squad
Omar Khalfan is starting to look at home
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Apr 2027
Josen Escobar 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 Ahli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Ahli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ismail Al Junaibi 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Carlos Zambrano 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.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I watch every Al Ahli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Shaab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 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 Ahli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
“I watch every Al Ahli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Shaab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Hamad Hassan in a row with a teammate
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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Hassan Ismail, 35, rolls back the years — 7.93
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssef Rashid 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match20 Feb 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Hassan Ismail’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al Ahli.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Marked 8.69 — 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Rashid Khalfan
“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 watch every Al Ahli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al Shaab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Rashid Al Junaibi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al Ahli say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nasser Al Naqbi
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Shaab lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Shaab will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 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 Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market15 Feb 2027
Saba are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Al Shaab will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match13 Feb 2027
Emirates Club made Al Shaab work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market25 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al Shaab have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Isaac Success 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 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Mahmoud Al Hammadi 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 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Walid Juma, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The team sheet said everything about Bandar Khalfan
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Bandar Khalfan.
Market25 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mohamed Hassan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al Ahli's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al Ahli has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 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 Ahli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Jan 2027
Al Ahli cannot find the net
4 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Hassan Omar has left for Al Shabab in a $420.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Al Ahli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssef Rashid 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Abdullah Nader again, and this time the name on the line is Al Shaab. Al Ahli are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Al Ahli will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.