Marked for Sofiane Bellahcene
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Mar 2036
4‑1, and Mohamed Atal took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Paradou tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad24 Mar 2036
27 goals and a season average of 7.48. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
Marked 8.14 at 17, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.43 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market24 Mar 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paradou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The terraces24 Mar 2036
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.
Player ratings24 Mar 2036
Ben Ahmed Kohili was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad24 Mar 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mourad Bennacer and Paradou agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mourad Bennacer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Feb 2036
A season average of 7.49 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad25 Feb 2036
40 days out for Fouad Kermiche after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paradou will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.10, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market25 Feb 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paradou they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match23 Feb 2036
Three points for Paradou, 3‑1 the final word against ES Mostaganem in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces25 Feb 2036
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.
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
Marked 8.05 — 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.
Squad25 Feb 2036
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rafik Djabou commits to Paradou for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Feb 2036
A fracture rules Fouad Kermiche out for 47 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paradou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Feb 2036
A season average of 7.44 with 23 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market18 Feb 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paradou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
“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.
Market18 Feb 2036
Aissa Mrezigue is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Paradou has been clear about where Aissa Mrezigue stands, which is more than many ever get.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2036
Paradou ran out of time with USM Alger. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
“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 ratings18 Feb 2036
Marked 7.71. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
Ben Ahmed Kohili has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Paradou 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Feb 2036
A fracture rules Fouad Kermiche out for 62 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paradou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Feb 2036
“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 Paradou, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Feb 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ASO Chlef waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Paradou is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Imad Eddine Benmoussa has, at Paradou, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout4 Feb 2036
This is not rotation. Taha Yassine Tahar has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Paradou is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
Window shuts: 1 in, 2 out at Paradou
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad4 Feb 2036
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Soukkou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Feb 2036
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Imad Eddine Benmoussa and Paradou agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets4 Feb 2036
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Paradou will try again when the window opens; CS Constantine may not be selling by then.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Dec 2035
A fracture rules Fouad Kermiche out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paradou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Dec 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paradou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings31 Dec 2035
A defender's goal wins it for Paradou — 7.86
1 for Mohamed Lamine Tahar, marked 7.86, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The dugout31 Dec 2035
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paradou have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 Dec 2035
Defences have started doubling up on Ben Ahmed Kohili
15 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad31 Dec 2035
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad31 Dec 2035
A row about effort at Paradou
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Soukkou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Dec 2035
This is not rotation. Hicham Benrahma has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Paradou is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings31 Dec 2035
Rachid Guedioura did the work nobody counts — 6.78
11 combined actions and 6.78. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Nov 2035
145 days out for Fouad Kermiche after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paradou will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market19 Nov 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paradou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Nov 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sofiane Bellahcene and Paradou agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Ben Ahmed Kohili has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Paradou 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.
Looking ahead19 Nov 2035
Paradou take on the side everybody is chasing
MC Alger arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fouad Kermiche, and the manager let it.
Market19 Nov 2035
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mustapha Azenked signs something — a contract at Paradou or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Mohamed Atal knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paradou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad19 Nov 2035
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Paradou will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings29 Jan 2035
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.13, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad29 Jan 2035
A season average of 7.42 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market29 Jan 2035
“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 Paradou, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 Jan 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Paradou may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paradou have done the hard part with MC Alger, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2035
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: ES Setif keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market29 Jan 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paradou is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match27 Jan 2035
A 2‑1 win over Olympique Akbou, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad29 Jan 2035
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Oct 2034
A fracture rules Faouzi Zeffane out for 27 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paradou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Oct 2034
The medical room confirms 50 days on the sidelines for Said Halliche, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Oct 2034
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sofiane Bellahcene and Paradou agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
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 dugout16 Oct 2034
“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.
Market16 Oct 2034
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Paradou know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market16 Oct 2034
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market16 Oct 2034
7 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Paradou could get for him.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
Amine Mahrez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paradou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad9 Oct 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdeldjalil Tahri
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paradou lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match4 Oct 2034
Cup progress for Paradou
A 3‑1 win over ASO Chlef, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match7 Oct 2034
ES Ben Aknoun will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Paradou were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad9 Oct 2034
34 days out for Faouzi Zeffane after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paradou will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings9 Oct 2034
Sofiane Bellahcene, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 9.27
A mark of 9.27 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad9 Oct 2034
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings9 Oct 2034
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match7 Oct 2034
The run at home goes on for Paradou
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Market9 Oct 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paradou can pretend not to have heard.
In brief
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Match
Nobody wants to play Paradou right now
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Match
Another one collected away from home
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The terraces
One of their own: Amine Mahrez