“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Dhafra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The goal that put Sharjah ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Al Dhafra equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ahmed Abdulrahman is living that version at Al Dhafra, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Khalid Bawazir has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Two goals and a mark of 9.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at Al Dhafra until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al Dhafra and Al Shaab, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
In brief
SquadRostand Djooh has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Francisco Sciarini is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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 phone has started ringing about Arielson again, and this time the name on the line is Naft Tehran. Al Dhafra are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostand Djooh 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.
“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.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ashkan Rashedi 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Al Dhafra that is a harder question to answer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al Dhafra. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 32 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostand Djooh 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ashkan Rashedi is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Rostand Djooh 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 easiest signature of my career.” Yousef Al-Mansoοri and Al Dhafra agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim El Berkaoui signs something — a contract at Al Dhafra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
43 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Serafim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The offer from Al Shabab for Sory Kaba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Sory Kaba 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Ibrahim Bayesh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Rostand Djooh 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.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim El Berkaoui signs something — a contract at Al Dhafra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
43 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
The offer from Dibba for Arielson was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The phone has started ringing about Zackariah Mohammed again, and this time the name on the line is Al Ahli. Al Dhafra are listening politely and promising nothing.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yousef Al-Mansoοri 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Al Dhafra than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Feras Saleh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al Dhafra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The offer from Al Jazira for Karim El Berkaoui was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Al Dhafra asked and Al-Qadisiyah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Muhamed Suwareh has come up in conversations Al Dhafra were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Rostand Djooh 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim El Berkaoui signs something — a contract at Al Dhafra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Al Dhafra had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Baniyas, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdulla Al-Karbi and Al Dhafra agree another 4 years.
Al Dhafra asked and Baniyas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Al Dhafra have made the call to Al-Qadisiyah. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al Dhafra, another week without a signature from Abdulla Al-Karbi.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Al Dhafra than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Dhafra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ibrahim Bayesh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Rostand Djooh 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al Dhafra. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim El Berkaoui signs something — a contract at Al Dhafra or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 6 on 43 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Al Dhafra that is a harder question to answer.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Feras Saleh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al Dhafra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohamed El Khaloui and Al Dhafra agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ibrahim Bayesh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostand Djooh 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostand Djooh 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.
“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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Al Dhafra could ask drops and the wages Abdulla Al-Karbi can ask rise.
Djurgarden did not take him to make up a number: they want him playing. For Abderahmane Soussi that is worth more than another season of watching from Al Dhafra's bench, and everyone involved has said so out loud.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Dhafra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Djurgarden waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ibrahim Bayesh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Dhafra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Al Dhafra will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The name of Abderahmane Soussi has come up in conversations Al Dhafra were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Dhafra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Dhafra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdulla Al-Karbi 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Rostand Djooh 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.
Position 6 on 43 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Dhafra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Dhafra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mahmoud Mabkhout has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sultan Ismail has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Dhafra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al Dhafra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 43 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.27 — 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Dhafra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amjad Al-Sayed, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 Khalid Suqrat to a room that had heard them before.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al Dhafra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al Dhafra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Al Nasr kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Al Dhafra will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Marked 9.56 — 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.
At 22 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.
8.30. 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.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al Dhafra lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 151 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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 offer from Sepahan for Abderahmane Soussi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al Dhafra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mohamed Al Junaibi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The offer from Al Shabab for Karim El Berkaoui was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al Dhafra close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 0 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.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jan 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al Dhafra and Al Ain in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Shaab have kept their man, and Al Dhafra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Feras Saleh has come up in conversations Al Dhafra were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Arielson had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The name of Abderahmane Soussi has come up in conversations Al Dhafra were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abderahmane Soussi has his answer from Al Dhafra; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Al Dhafra asked and Baniyas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al Dhafra have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Rostand Djooh 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.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Volos NPS have kept their man, and Al Dhafra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Sory Kaba had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Al Shabab were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Al Dhafra have had the benefit of it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Dhafra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
A 1‑0 win over Sharjah, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Sory Kaba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Baniyas the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Al Dhafra will enjoy reviewing.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saeed Suqrat is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Al Shaab will replay every second of the added time for a week.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.18 — 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.
In brief
Player ratingsSory Kaba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Marked 8.30 — 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.
Position 5, 24 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
SquadWords at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Ibrahim Bayesh 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.
Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al Dhafra.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Sory Kaba 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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Dhafra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sory Kaba 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.
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostand Djooh 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Ibrahim Bayesh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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 1‑3 Khalid Suqrat left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al Wasl in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Two goals and a mark of 9.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al Dhafra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mohamed Nader has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fahad Al Hammadi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Khalid Suqrat to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sory Kaba provided it, and the 9.44 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Dibba tried to reorganise, Al Dhafra did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Al Ain next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
In brief
SquadWords at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Al Wahda will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ibrahim Bayesh. 2‑1 against Al Wahda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Abderahmane Soussi 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.
Marked 8.17 — 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.
7.89, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jobson scored, was marked 7.98, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al Dhafra and Emirates Club, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Al Shabab kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Al Dhafra will be asked about the last half hour all week.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahim Al-Hosani is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Jobson 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sory Kaba. 2‑1 against Al Jazira, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
7 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Khalid Suqrat, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yousef Al-Mansoοri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Khalid Suqrat on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
6 goals in one match, Karim El Berkaoui on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al Dhafra and Baniyas.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mohamed Al Junaibi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nasser Omar is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rostand Djooh 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.
Successful dribbles: 37. 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Al Dhafra until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
7 goals in one match, Sory Kaba on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al Dhafra and Al Shaab.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Almagro have kept their man, and Al Dhafra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Rostand Djooh 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.
Al Dhafra had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Utrecht, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Jobson 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.
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.
The offer from Al-Ra'ed for Khalid Bawazir was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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 Dhafra, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Sharjah have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abderahmane Soussi. The answer from Al Dhafra has not changed — yet.
The deal with Utrecht 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Shaab have kept their man, and Al Dhafra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadWords at Al Dhafra training over how hard people work
The offer from Baniyas for Ezeckiel Noumonvi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Shaab have kept their man, and Al Dhafra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rostand Djooh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The offer from Sharjah for Abderahmane Soussi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Jobson 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 name of Khalid Bawazir has come up in conversations Al Dhafra were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ahmed Al Hammadi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sultan Obaid has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Al Dhafra would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karim El Berkaoui and Al Dhafra agree another 2 years.
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 Dhafra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rostand Djooh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.