Marked for Amedée Mouanda
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Apr 2031
A fracture rules Reda Mohamed out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Police Union will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match7 Apr 2031
The season ends: position 14 for Police Union
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 25 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad7 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Shokry 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 dugout7 Apr 2031
“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.
Match5 Apr 2031
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market7 Apr 2031
“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.
Market7 Apr 2031
2 months and counting on Reda Mohamed
Still no offer on the table, and Reda Mohamed’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom15 Jul 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Police Union
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad15 Jul 2030
A fracture rules Messaoud Midoune out for 100 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Police Union will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Jul 2030
“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 Police Union, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Ahly keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Suleiman Abdullahi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Ali Hassan 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.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
Al Ahly 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 targets15 Jul 2030
Ismaily 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces10 Jun 2030
Supporters organise against the Police Union board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match10 Jun 2030
Every point is an argument now for Police Union
Position 16 and 12 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.
Market10 Jun 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Police Union can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets10 Jun 2030
Police Union and Masr El Makasa have settled on $87.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market10 Jun 2030
Zamalek come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Police Union did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Jun 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Police Union is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom10 Jun 2030
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Moses Tsehuan 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.
Squad10 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Jun 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Police Union go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
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.
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Squad3 Jun 2030
A fracture rules Trezeguet Tarek out for 17 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Police Union will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Jun 2030
“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.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 Jun 2030
Suleiman Abdullahi 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.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
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.
Market3 Jun 2030
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Police Union has been clear about where Ibrahim Aboul-Yazid stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom20 May 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Police Union
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Police Union is running low.
Squad20 May 2030
A fracture rules Trezeguet Tarek out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Police Union will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout20 May 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market20 May 2030
Amedée Mouanda has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Police Union they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout20 May 2030
Jeffrey Essien: 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.” Police Union have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 May 2030
Suleiman Abdullahi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 May 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ronald Mbambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 May 2030
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 Mohamed Shokry is on it.
Market20 May 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Shokry signs something — a contract at Police Union or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 May 2030
The mood at Police Union has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match13 May 2030
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market13 May 2030
“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.
The dugout13 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Police Union may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 May 2030
Ali Hassan 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.
Squad13 May 2030
The medical room confirms 27 days on the sidelines for Karim Trezeguet, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad13 May 2030
No place for Sekou Sonko in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Police Union are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout13 May 2030
“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
Crisis
Boardroom22 Apr 2030
Pressure builds in the Police Union boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout22 Apr 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market22 Apr 2030
Amedée Mouanda has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Police Union they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Suleiman Abdullahi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mahmoud Gehad and Police Union agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Hassan 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 dugout22 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Galadima, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Apr 2030
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.
Market22 Apr 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Shokry signs something — a contract at Police Union or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Mar 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Police Union
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Police Union is running low.
Squad25 Mar 2030
There were 6 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 dugout25 Mar 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market25 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Police Union is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Suleiman Abdullahi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Hassan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
“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.
Match23 Mar 2030
0‑1 to Petrojet, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Sunday Williams ran the middle of the pitch — 6.84
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.84, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Feb 2030
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.
Boardroom25 Feb 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Police Union
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match23 Feb 2030
1‑4 to Ismaily, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match23 Feb 2030
7 matches without a win for Police Union
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Police Union are no longer polite ones.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market25 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Police Union can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
Up for the corner, and Mahmoud Gehad delivers — 7.19
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mahmoud Gehad scored, was marked 7.19, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market25 Feb 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Police Union is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Suleiman Abdullahi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom28 Jan 2030
Pressure builds in the Police Union boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market28 Jan 2030
Amedée Mouanda has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Police Union they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2030
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Police Union have done the hard part with Al Ahly, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom28 Jan 2030
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Amedée Mouanda 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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Ali Hassan 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.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zamalek have kept their man, and Police Union go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
“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
Crisis
Squad12 Nov 2029
There were 15 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Suleiman Abdullahi 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.
Match10 Nov 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
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 0‑1 Mohamed Ghaly left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amedée Mouanda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amedée Mouanda, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Ali Fathi 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.
Market12 Nov 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Police Union has been clear about where Mahmoud El Shenawy stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Sep 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Police Union will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Police Union's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Police Union has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 Sep 2029
There were 8 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 dugout17 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Suleiman Abdullahi 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 Sep 2029
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Adly 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.
Transfer targets17 Sep 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Police Union go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match15 Sep 2029
1‑2 to Masr El Makasa, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohamed Ghaly after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.