Marked for Abdoulaye Kante
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2029
Moro Traoré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Etoiles du Mande training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Tounkara 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cheick Samassekou, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdoulaye Kante and Etoiles du Mande agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
Bakary Cissé 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 Bakary Cissé is on it.
Looking ahead1 Oct 2029
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AS Korofina in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market1 Oct 2029
The Siaka Keïta talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Etoiles du Mande know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Daouda Malle: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Etoiles du Mande will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Issa Tounkara is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tidiane Danioko 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moro Traoré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Tiémoko Berthé has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Etoiles du Mande 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Tidiane Danioko asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market31 Jul 2028
Etoiles du Mande have let the market know Uzoigwe Odinaka can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Moro Traoré 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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
When it matters, Moro Traoré plays
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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Djigui Keita'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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Etoiles du Mande, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 Apr 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Etoiles du Mande know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.