Marked for Idriss Abba
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Aug 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Elect Sport waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match28 Aug 2028
Every point is an argument now for Gazelle
Position 11 and 23 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 Aug 2028
The name of Narcisse Hissein has come up in conversations Gazelle were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Esaie Djikoloum 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.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Gazelle asked and Elect Sport said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Gazelle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Osée Natoyoum 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.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassane Boudina, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Elect Sport waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match31 Jul 2028
Gazelle sink to position 11
23 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market31 Jul 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 Gazelle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Mahamat Abba again, and this time the name on the line is Aiglons. Gazelle are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad31 Jul 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 Gazelle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Gazelle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Osée Natoyoum 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
A loan move for Madaoua Tchiva is in the works
Gazelle have made the call to CotonTchad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Esaie Djikoloum
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gazelle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 Jul 2028
100 days out for Hassane Boudina after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gazelle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match3 Jul 2028
Gazelle are in real trouble now
Position 11, 23 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.
Market3 Jul 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 Gazelle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jul 2028
Gazelle say no — this time
The offer from AS Etat Major for Mahamat Abba 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Esaie Djikoloum 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.
Squad3 Jul 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.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Gazelle sign 3 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
Squad19 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Esaie Djikoloum
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gazelle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Gazelle
Esaie Djikoloum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Gazelle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Osée Natoyoum 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.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Armhel Yandeme
“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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan move for Madaoua Tchiva is in the works
Gazelle have made the call to CotonTchad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Mahamat Abba has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Gazelle 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Hassane Boudina’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Idriss Abba has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Gazelle will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jun 2028
Gazelle are in real trouble now
Position 11, 23 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.
Market5 Jun 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 Gazelle can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Gazelle
Armhel Yandeme 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Gazelle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Osée Natoyoum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Ahmat Allamine
“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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Hassane Boudina. Gazelle will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market5 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gazelle know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The window opens at Gazelle
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 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 Gazelle can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 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 Gazelle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Gazelle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Osée Natoyoum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 May 2028
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Idriss Abba, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout15 May 2028
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 Saleh Mbainaissem is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2028
Every point is an argument now for Gazelle
Position 11 and 23 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hassane Boudina and Gazelle agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Esaie Djikoloum 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Osée Natoyoum 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 dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Gazelle would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Gazelle
Esaie Djikoloum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Marius Adoum 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franck Nanfack Ngoufack trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A Gazelle teenager takes the young player award
Mahamat Mbaiguedem is 19, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Idriss Abba 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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Foullah Edifice next, and one man in the Gazelle dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Mahamat Abba 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 Mahamat Abba is on it.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Hassane Boudina’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Idriss Abba has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Gazelle will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Karim Zakaria goes up and wins it — 7.15
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.15 for the rest of it.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Esaie Djikoloum 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Gazelle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Osée Natoyoum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Mar 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Karim Zakaria. 2‑1 against AS Etat Major, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
At 20 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Armhel Yandeme
“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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
7.76, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Gazelle had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Adam Adoum, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Jan 2028
The small margins put Gazelle out
Out, 1‑2 to Foullah Edifice, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Mahamat Mbaiguedem, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.05, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match22 Jan 2028
It had gone 9 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Market24 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
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 Gazelle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Gazelle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Osée Natoyoum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces24 Jan 2028
At 19 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.
Match22 Jan 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hassane Boudina. 2‑0 against Stars Jeunes Talents, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Gazelle
Esaie Djikoloum 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Everybody at Gazelle saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Mahamat Mbaiguedem is the division's best young player this month
At 18 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Gazelle will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Looking ahead6 Dec 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AS Etat Major in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Gazelle
Narcisse Hissein and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Gazelle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Osée Natoyoum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Marius Bechir has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gazelle is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Adam Adoum to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmat Allamine, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 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.
Market22 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gazelle know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.