Marked for Arkell Jude-Boyd
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
Arkell Jude-Boyd 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ohod made Al-Njoom work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Sfundo Shezi at his very best
Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Njoom.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Sep 2026
The small margins put Al-Njoom out
Out, 0‑3 to Al-Nassr, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
Al-Njoom are taken apart by Al-Nassr — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Montassar Toumi 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Sep 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.50 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Al-Njoom had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
Faisal Al-Subiani 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Arkell Jude-Boyd 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 terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sfundo Shezi 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Al-Batin, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis González, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Al-Njoom who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.57 on the card, and the Al-Njoom support went home talking about one name.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Market7 Sep 2026
11 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑4 by Al-Riyadh, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 26 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arkell Jude-Boyd 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mohammed Attiyah 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arkell Jude-Boyd, and the manager let it.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Al-Njoom dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Njoom, another week without a signature from Arkell Jude-Boyd.
Market17 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Al-Njoom
Claudio Saieva arrives at 37 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.