From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Al-Fateh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Mourad Batna, 36, rolls back the years — 8.54
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.54 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad25 Jan 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Nahda have kept their man, and Al-Fateh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 8.05 — 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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Ziyad Al-Jari
“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.
Match23 Jan 2027
A goal on 93 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Hussain Qassem 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
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 ratings18 Jan 2027
Zaydou Youssouf was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Lukáš Haraslín
7 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout18 Jan 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 Ali Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market18 Jan 2027
Al-Fateh have let the market know Zaydou Youssouf can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The plan did not have a place for Kennedy Boateng
Nobody at Al-Fateh is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Wilfried Kanga keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Fateh say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match9 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Najran spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Al-Fateh had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Fayha, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Al-Fateh asked and Al-Ahli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Silvère Ganvoula
12 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match9 Jan 2027
Three points for Al-Fateh, 1‑0 the final word against Najran in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Al-Fateh
Faisal Darisi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ziyad Al-Jari will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Fateh
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Ahli was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad4 Jan 2027
8 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Mourad Batna 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Zaydou Youssouf is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Fateh has been clear about where Zaydou Youssouf stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Nobody left the Al-Fateh dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout4 Jan 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Ali Al-Otaibi to a room that had heard them before.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Al-Fayha: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Al-Fateh have made the call to Al-Riyadh. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Fateh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fateh
Mourad Batna 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Silvère Ganvoula. 3‑2 against Al-Nassr, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match26 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Al-Fateh
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Othman Al-Othman 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 ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 8.48 — 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.22 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Zaydou Youssouf at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Fateh.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Lukáš Haraslín was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Dec 2026
Al-Wehda will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Fateh were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Silvère Ganvoula takes the afternoon — 9.37
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Silvère Ganvoula provided it, and the 9.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Age has not caught Mourad Batna yet — 8.16
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Lukáš Haraslín at his very best
Marked 8.26. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Fateh.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Wilfried Kanga 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-Fateh.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Lukáš Haraslín
7 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 4‑1, already talking about the next one.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
The leaders are next for Al-Fateh
Al-Nassr top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Lukáš Haraslín 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ziyad Al-Jari, and the manager let it.
Match12 Dec 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.20 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Ali Al-Otaibi on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Al-Fateh lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Market14 Dec 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Habib Al-Watyan has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Al-Fateh.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
Al-Wehda next, and one man in the Al-Fateh dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Fateh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Dec 2026
Three points for Al-Fateh, 2‑1 the final word against Hajer in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Salem Al-Najdi 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 ratings7 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Salem Al-Najdi at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Fateh.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fateh
Hussain Qassem 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ali Al-Otaibi on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hussain Qassem, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Fateh lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Hussain Qassem: 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-Fateh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Al-Fateh's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Fateh has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 116% of everything Al-Fateh 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fateh
Fawaz Al-Hamad 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ali Al-Otaibi after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad30 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Al-Fateh lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ammar Al-Hudaybi 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrian Šemper, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Al-Fateh had all but put away. Al-Faisaly will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad23 Nov 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-Fateh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Faisaly leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
A promise honoured at Al-Fateh
Something was said to Othman Al-Othman and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ali Al-Otaibi was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Al-Fateh dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ammar Al-Hudaybi
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Fateh lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mourad Batna 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-Fateh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 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 0‑2 Ali Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Al-Faisaly next, and one man in the Al-Fateh dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Al-Fateh lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Nov 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Fateh
0‑4 against Al-Ittihad, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mourad Batna 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salem Al-Najdi, and the manager let it.
Match9 Nov 2026
Halfway: Al-Fateh sit in position 7
17 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Fateh dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 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 0‑4 Ali Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
The leaders are next for Al-Fateh
Al-Hilal top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Mihai Lixandru pops up at the right end — 7.67
7.67, 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
Lukáš Haraslín wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Fateh hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Match31 Oct 2026
Al-Ra'ed made Al-Fateh work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
116% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Fateh
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saad Al-Sharfa, and the manager let it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A mark of 7.87, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Market2 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Fateh know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Oct 2026
Al-Fateh throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Al-Khaleej the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Al-Fateh will enjoy reviewing.
Match24 Oct 2026
Al-Khaleej left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrian Šemper, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Lukáš Haraslín at his very best
Marked 8.44. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Fateh.
The dugout26 Oct 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 2‑3 Ali Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market26 Oct 2026
The name of Zaydou Youssouf keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Fateh say nothing, which says plenty.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Ra'ed in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.21, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Al-Taawoun, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ziyad Al-Jari
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ali Al-Otaibi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 28 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Al-Fateh have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Najran, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Faisal Al-Abdulwahed and Al-Fateh agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Fateh
10 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Fawaz Al-Hamad 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
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.” Ali Al-Otaibi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Majed Qasheesh
“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
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Faisal Darisi damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Fateh
0‑3 against Al-Ahli, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Habib Al-Watyan out for 37 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Fateh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 146% of the Al-Fateh 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Al-Fateh dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Faisal Darisi 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ali Al-Otaibi after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Fateh lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 9 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Al-Fateh
Mourad Batna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
Wilfried Kanga scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Al-Nassr, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout28 Sep 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 2‑3 Ali Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulrahman Al-Khaibari, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Wilfried Kanga 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 Wilfried Kanga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Habib Al-Watyan out for 57 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Fateh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.22, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Zaydou Youssouf delivers — 7.78
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Zaydou Youssouf scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Mourad Batna 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-Fateh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Fateh and Al-Wehda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Silvère Ganvoula. 4‑2 against Al-Wehda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrian Šemper, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Al-Fateh
0‑3 against Al-Ta'ee, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad14 Sep 2026
65 days out for Habib Al-Watyan after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Fateh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
A cup hiding at Al-Ta'ee leaves Al-Fateh explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Al-Fateh
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Al-Fateh are no longer polite ones.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fateh
Abdulaziz Al-Suwailem 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 dugout14 Sep 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ali Al-Otaibi to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“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-Fateh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
73 days out for Habib Al-Watyan after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Fateh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Mihai Lixandru pops up at the right end — 7.96
7.96, 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 16 in, 3 out at Al-Fateh
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Ittihad have kept their man, and Al-Fateh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Mihai Lixandru had Al-Fateh level again within 2 minutes, and Hajer never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ziyad Al-Jari, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match5 Sep 2026
It needed Mihai Lixandru to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Hajer, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Habib Al-Watyan out for 80 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Fateh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Fateh people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Aug 2026
As if he never left: Salem Al-Najdi returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Salem Al-Najdi is a Al-Fateh player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $113.8K — a club that wants Hamed Al-Shanqeeti enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Al-Ittihad wanted more than $110.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.28 — 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Al-Fateh are still strangers to each other
10 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It needed Lukáš Haraslín to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Shabab, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Aug 2026
88 days out for Habib Al-Watyan after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Fateh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The offer went to Al-Nassr 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Al-Fateh have paid $2.7M for Silvère Ganvoula, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Market24 Aug 2026
Hajer come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Fateh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Wilfried Kanga. 2‑1 against Al-Faisaly, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Lukáš Haraslín at his very best
Marked 8.35. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Fateh.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sultan Al-Ahmadi and Al-Fateh agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 Aug 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.” Ali Al-Otaibi, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
12 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Al-Hilal, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 Aug 2026
Al-Wehda come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Fateh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $261.6K — a club that wants Abdullah Al-Zaid enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Ahli is saying, and nobody at Al-Fateh is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mourad Batna 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahli have kept their man, and Al-Fateh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Habib Al-Watyan out for 105 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Fateh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Aug 2026
Al-Khaleej come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Fateh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $62.6K — a club that wants Abdullah Al-Qahtani enough to be asked twice.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wilfried Kanga and Al-Fateh agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Al-Fateh have gone to Al-Shabab with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Fateh
Mourad Batna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
Al-Ra'ed paid $540.0K and Al-Fateh took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ali Al-Sulami 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sultan Al-Ahmadi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Lukáš Haraslín wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Fateh hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market3 Aug 2026
Al-Fateh say no — this time
The offer from Al-Shabab for Abdul Aziz Al-Fawaz 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lukáš Haraslín and Al-Fateh agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fateh
Mourad Batna 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.