From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Abdulla Al-Karbi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Al Dhafra.
Market7 Jun 2027
The Sami Al-Naji talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al Dhafra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market7 Jun 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Oscar Velázquez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al Dhafra they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 May 2027
Serafim 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.
Squad31 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Pino and Al Dhafra agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Amjad Al-Sayed
“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.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Sami Al-Naji keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al Dhafra say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
“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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
286% of the income goes out in wages at Al Dhafra
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match26 Dec 2026
0-2 to Al Jazira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 2-4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Sami Al-Naji 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 Al Dhafra, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karim El Berkaoui commits to Al Dhafra for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Jobson's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Bayesh 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 Al Dhafra, and both men came out saying it was fine.