Marked for Sofiane Dia
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Jeel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Jeel know it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thamer Al-Arjan 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Thamer Al-Arjan
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Jeel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Jeel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Amer Khalil 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxwell Quaye was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sofiane Dia, and the manager let it.
Market10 Apr 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Jeel, another week without a signature from Sofiane Dia.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Anaël Bakaki knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anaël Bakaki trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 Apr 2028
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Al-Jeel could get for him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Essam Bahri wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Al-Jeel will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Apr 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Jeel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match3 Apr 2028
Full time on the season at Al-Jeel
Position 10 on 39 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thamer Al-Arjan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch3 Apr 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Jeel, and 10 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Saud Haroun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match1 Apr 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Sofiane Dia
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sofiane Dia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Jeel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Sofiane Dia has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxwell Quaye 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Nafea Al-Sumairi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nafea Al-Sumairi, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Mar 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 Al-Jeel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marzouq Tambakti’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al-Jeel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market27 Mar 2028
The clock does Sofiane Dia’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Al-Jeel could ask drops and the wages Sofiane Dia can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Mar 2028
Ibrahim Al-Otaibi damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market13 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Jeel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match11 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Al-Jeel's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Jeel has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match11 Mar 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Saad Al-Dawsari after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Sofiane Dia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Amer Khalil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Feb 2028
Al-Batin left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Everybody at Al-Jeel saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“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 ratings28 Feb 2028
Ninety minutes of Maxwell Quaye at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Jeel.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Saad Al-Dawsari to a room that had heard them before.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sofiane Dia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bokamoso Taukobong trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Jeel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
The afternoon belonged to Amer Khalil
A mark of 7.82, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sofiane Dia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Feb 2028
Honours even between Al-Jeel and Damac
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Saad Al-Dawsari after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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 dugout21 Feb 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Feb 2028
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.13, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Abdulellah Al-Ashwan scored, was marked 7.51, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Taawoun have kept their man, and Al-Jeel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Saud Haroun 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 Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Sofiane Dia 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Saad Al-Dawsari could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Al-Jeel close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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 Al-Jeel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
$89.0K on the table at Al-Saudi Al-Watani. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Match5 Feb 2028
Al-Riyadh made Al-Jeel work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Nafea Al-Sumairi 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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Al-Jeel will try again when the window opens; Al-Riyadh may not be selling by then.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Loan watch7 Feb 2028
“I did not go to Ohod to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Jeel and fight for my place.” 22 appearances in 24 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jan 2028
“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 Al-Jeel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The offer went to Al-Riyadh this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
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.
Match29 Jan 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.48, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
The deal with Ohod is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
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.
Match22 Jan 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amer Khalil. 2‑1 against Ohod, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces24 Jan 2028
At 23 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 Jan 2028
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sofiane Dia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sheva Kardanu and Al-Jeel agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Saad Al-Dawsari could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The offer went to Al-Riyadh this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Amer Khalil 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
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.
Match8 Jan 2028
Al-Fayha made Al-Jeel work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Yusuff Adewale was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. 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.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Ninety minutes of Maxwell Quaye at his very best
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Jeel.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sofiane Dia 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 dugout10 Jan 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Saad Al-Dawsari on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“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 ratings3 Jan 2028
Marked 7.82 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Al-Jeel had the best player on the pitch.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sofiane Dia 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Bokamoso Taukobong
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Bokamoso Taukobong has come out of that comparison in the side, and Al-Jeel have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Saad Al-Dawsari kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Saud Haroun: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Jeel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match18 Dec 2027
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Jeel know it.
Match18 Dec 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Maxwell Quaye’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Jeel.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces20 Dec 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.79 on the card, and the Al-Jeel support went home talking about one name.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sofiane Dia 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Faisal Al-Mansour
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Jeel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Dec 2027
8 matches without a win for Al-Jeel
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Al-Jeel are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Jeel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Match11 Dec 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad13 Dec 2027
At 33, 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.
Match13 Dec 2027
Al-Jeel at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 11, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Jeel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match20 Nov 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
0‑3 against Najran, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Amer Khalil 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 Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Saad Al-Dawsari left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thamer Al-Arjan, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Saud Haroun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Sofiane Dia 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bokamoso Taukobong is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match6 Nov 2027
It needed Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Batin, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Saad Al-Dawsari was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Al-Jeel dressing room was either.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Oct 2027
Nafea Al-Sumairi scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Damac, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Nafea Al-Sumairi 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 97% of everything Al-Jeel earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Ohod to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Jeel and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Saad Al-Dawsari left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Sofiane Dia 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Abdullah Al-Bishi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hani Al-Sebyani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match16 Oct 2027
Al-Jeel throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Al-Riyadh the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Al-Jeel will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Jeel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Maxwell Quaye 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.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
Al-Jeel supporters have found a favourite in Amer Khalil
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Amer Khalil 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“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.
Match16 Oct 2027
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Riyadh leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Jeel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Jeel know it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
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-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sofiane Dia 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
A promise honoured at Al-Jeel
Something was said to Osama Al-Johar and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hussein Al-Tuti, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marzouq Tambakti’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al-Jeel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“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-Jeel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yusuff Adewale’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Oct 2027
Ali Al-Sheikh damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Amer Khalil 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Haythem Ayouni and Al-Jeel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yusuff Adewale 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Match2 Oct 2027
Hajer made Al-Jeel work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thamer Al-Arjan, and the manager let it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
100% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Jeel
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ali Al-Sheikh
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Jeel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match25 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Njabulo Hlongwane scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Ohod, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bokamoso Taukobong, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Saad Al-Dawsari left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Sofiane Dia 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
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 Nafea Al-Sumairi is on it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Al-Jeel have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ali Al-Sheikh damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Al-Jeel close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 7 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Al-Jeel asked and Al-Saudi Al-Watani said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Sep 2027
At 36, 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Amer Khalil back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Al-Jeel has worked with Amer Khalil before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The clock did what Al-Riyadh would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sofiane Dia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ali Al-Sheikh damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
The offer went to Al-Riyadh this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Amer Khalil back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Al-Jeel has worked with Amer Khalil before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The terraces30 Aug 2027
At 23 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.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody on the pitch touched Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Sofiane Dia falls out with a teammate over standards
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
Hussain Halawani damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Khaleej have kept their man, and Al-Jeel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Amer Khalil back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Al-Jeel has worked with Amer Khalil before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hani Al-Sebyani, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Too much change too quickly at Al-Jeel
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Al-Jeel asked and Al-Khaleej said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Amer Khalil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Amer Khalil back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Al-Jeel has worked with Amer Khalil before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Market28 Jun 2027
Abdullah Al-Bishi is 20, and Al-Jeel have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad28 Jun 2027
5 new faces, and Al-Jeel are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sofiane Dia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market28 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yusuff Adewale signs something — a contract at Al-Jeel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Jeel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Al-Jeel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Jeel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Damac have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Al-Ta'ee: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Asanele Shibe
“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.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Yusuff Adewale loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Yusuff Adewale's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Al-Jeel
Position 14 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad22 Mar 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Al-Jeel's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Jeel has to find a result from somewhere.
Match20 Mar 2027
Al-Shoulla left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 101% of the Al-Jeel income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdullah Al-Suwaie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Sofiane Dia beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Maxwell Quaye is not enjoying his job description
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Al-Jeel have a player doing his work under protest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Jeel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Hussain Al-Zarie and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match5 Dec 2026
Al-Jeel rescue it on 91 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Al-Shoulla had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
The afternoon belonged to Amer Khalil
A mark of 7.67, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bokamoso Taukobong is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match5 Dec 2026
It needed Amer Khalil to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Shoulla, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nafea Al-Sumairi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sofiane Dia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
At 20 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nafea Al-Sumairi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Jeel 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hani Al-Sebyani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Nov 2026
The name of Yusuff Adewale keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Jeel say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Oct 2026
Al-Jeel sink to position 14
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Al-Jeel's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Jeel has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Hussain Al-Zarie at 21 — 7.75
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hussain Al-Zarie did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Al-Jeel are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
The pass was always on for Maxwell Quaye
Chances created: 11. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
Match24 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Anaël Bakaki
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No thanks: Saad Haqawi rejects the move
Al-Jeel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Nassr, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Diriyah have kept their man, and Al-Jeel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Al-Mojzel left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad24 Aug 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-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sofiane Dia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Aug 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Al-Jeel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Al-Fuhaid and Al-Jeel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Al-Jeel asked and Al-Hazem said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market3 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-Jeel, another week without a signature from Mohammed Al-Fuhaid.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Nafea Al-Sumairi 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Amer Khalil is in the works
Al-Jeel have made the call to Al-Ta'ee. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sofiane Dia 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.