Marked for Abdramane Bechir
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jan 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Jan 2030
The offer from CotonTchad for Omer Zaguri 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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Jan 2030
Still nobody has beaten Renaissance
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market7 Jan 2030
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Renaissance have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“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.
Market7 Jan 2030
AS PSI are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Renaissance will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Dec 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 Dec 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Dec 2029
Omer Zaguri has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Renaissance they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahamat Adam Ali, and the manager let it.
Loan watch10 Dec 2029
9 appearances at Elect Sport and the goals keep coming. Renaissance are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Match8 Dec 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. AS PSI defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Nov 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Nov 2029
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Gazelle spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Market12 Nov 2029
“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 Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Nov 2029
Omer Zaguri has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Renaissance they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Match10 Nov 2029
A 2‑1 win over Gazelle, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahamat Ali Hassan, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Marked 7.95 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Renaissance had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Nov 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match31 Oct 2029
A 1‑1 win over AS Etat Major, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market5 Nov 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Nov 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Renaissance they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Misiwani Nairube: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
No sign of nerves from Abdramane Bechir at 18 — 7.68
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdramane Bechir did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A chastening introduction for Ola Olagunju — 5.76
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.76 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Oct 2029
A fracture rules Mathieu Adoassou out for 80 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renaissance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market8 Oct 2029
“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 Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Oct 2029
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.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Match6 Oct 2029
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad8 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Renaissance
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Aug 2029
A fracture rules Mathieu Adoassou out for 126 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Renaissance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Aug 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Market27 Aug 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Renaissance will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad27 Aug 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdramane Bechir's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renaissance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Market30 Jul 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Renaissance will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
The phone has started ringing about Abdramane Bechir again, and this time the name on the line is Aiglons. Renaissance are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market23 Jul 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Renaissance will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market23 Jul 2029
Ola Olagunju is 17, and Renaissance have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market25 Jun 2029
The phone has started ringing about Wayne Mbuya again, and this time the name on the line is AS DGSSIE. Renaissance are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market25 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Renaissance will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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 Jun 2029
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
Steady
Market4 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jun 2029
Add another name to the list: US Moursal have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Wayne Mbuya. The answer from Renaissance has not changed — yet.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oumar Bechir commits to Renaissance for another 2 years.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Mahamat Ali Hassan 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renaissance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 May 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Boardroom21 May 2029
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Renaissance now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 May 2029
“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 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eshonxon Jahbarov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Renaissance the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Boardroom14 May 2029
Wages eat 105% of everything Renaissance earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad14 May 2029
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
Steady
Market23 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Renaissance they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Mar 2029
36 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market26 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdramane Bechir will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Renaissance the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Getting past Mathieu Adoassou has become the hardest job in the division
10 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Renaissance now.
Match24 Mar 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. CotonTchad will be the happier side with the point.
Market26 Mar 2029
Yaya Kerim linked with a move away
The name of Yaya Kerim keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Renaissance say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Feb 2029
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Stars Jeunes Talents, and it could have been more.
Squad26 Feb 2029
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match26 Feb 2029
29 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renaissance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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 ratings26 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Match24 Feb 2029
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Renaissance. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Yaya Kerim, 37, rolls back the years — 7.90
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market12 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renaissance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match10 Feb 2029
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Match10 Feb 2029
A 2‑0 win over Gazelle, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdullahi Abdulhamid, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match27 Jan 2029
Foullah Edifice will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Renaissance were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Félix Djoubairou 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 terraces29 Jan 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Muhammadiyor Marifaliyev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“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.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Ninety minutes of Ousmane Hissein at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Renaissance.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Renaissance now.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 terraces22 Jan 2029
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market22 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market22 Jan 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Renaissance they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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 Jan 2029
0‑1 to Aiglons, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Appolinaire Djingabeye, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
Wages eat 103% of everything Renaissance earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market8 Jan 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Renaissance have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirkamol Annamatov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.50 on the card, and the Renaissance support went home talking about one name.
Match6 Jan 2029
It needed Oumar Youssouf to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against AS Algoy, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Ousmane Hissein has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Renaissance 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Renaissance will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
A brace, and Oumar Youssouf takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Oumar Youssouf provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad25 Dec 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 Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Match23 Dec 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Oumar Youssouf’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Renaissance.
Squad25 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Yaya Kerim
“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.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
Wages eat 101% of everything Renaissance earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad25 Dec 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.
Market25 Dec 2028
The Yaya Kerim story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yaya Kerim signs something — a contract at Renaissance or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
5.51. 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
Market13 Nov 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 Renaissance can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market13 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renaissance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match11 Nov 2028
4 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.
Squad13 Nov 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 Renaissance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Nov 2028
The goals have deserted Renaissance
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Renaissance can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Renaissance training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Félix Djoubairou 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirkamol Annamatov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Oct 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 Renaissance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Oct 2028
Wayne Mbuya has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Renaissance they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
A first appearance Brahim Moustapha will want to forget — 5.80
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.80, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mathieu Adoassou and Renaissance agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Oumar Youssouf 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Félix Djoubairou 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.
Match7 Oct 2028
0‑1 to AS Algoy, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Appolinaire Djingabeye, and the manager let it.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Renaissance now.