The Sabah Courier
Market22 Jan 2029
Zinédine Ould Khaled says no to SM Caen
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Zinédine Ould Khaled had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market22 Jan 2029
Abdullah Xaybullayev asks to leave Sabah
“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.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Up for the corner, and Ivan Lepinjica delivers — 7.66
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ivan Lepinjica scored, was marked 7.66, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market22 Jan 2029
Sabah turn down Shimal for Afran Huseynov
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Ivan Lepinjica 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.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Zira tell Sabah: Maycon Cleiton is not for sale
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Aleksey İsayev 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 Sabah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Rahil Məmmədov 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.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
A loan move for Matheusinho is in the works
Sabah have made the call to Atlético Goianiense. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
- Transfer targets Sabah ask about Thiago Montelo
- Squad Sabah are still strangers to each other
- The dugout Ivan Lepinjica has become a man the manager trusts