From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces9 Aug 2027
The mood at Al-Njoom has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market9 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Al-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
67 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdulla Mohammed commits to Al-Njoom for another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Safwan Al-Johani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets9 Aug 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.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kamohelo Pheeane, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Al-Njoom have made the call to Al-Mojzel. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Aug 2027
Al-Njoom sink to position 15
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Omar Al-Salem has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The Al-Njoom board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market2 Aug 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdulla Mohammed and Al-Njoom agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Safwan Al-Johani 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Prince Ibara 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 dugout2 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market2 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Al-Njoom asked and Al-Ettifaq said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lebo Mohlala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I want to play”: Essam Bahri speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market26 Jul 2027
The name of Prince Ibara keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Njoom say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Athenkosi Tonisi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Njoom boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
This is not rotation. Ukeme Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Al-Njoom asked and Al-Hilal 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 dugout19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Prince Ibara
“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 Jul 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Rayan Al-Ghamdi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market19 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Njoom know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Anger at Al-Njoom spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Njoom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Safwan Al-Johani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Prince Ibara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Al-Njoom 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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Essam Bahri, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
11 new faces, and Al-Njoom are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages eat 93% of everything Al-Njoom 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jul 2027
Al-Njoom are in real trouble now
Position 15, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Omar Al-Salem has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Crisis meeting at Al-Njoom
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market5 Jul 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Safwan Al-Johani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Al-Njoom asked and Al-Ettifaq said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market5 Jul 2027
A stepping stone, not a home, for Turki Hazazi
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Al-Njoom were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rayan Al-Ghamdi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Lebo Mohlala is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lebo Mohlala has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
Prince Ibara hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Al-Ettifaq have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Al-Ittihad: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Thari Saeed is in the works
Al-Njoom have made the call to Al-Hilal. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Abdulla Mohammed asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“I want to play”: Essam Bahri speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Njoom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Njoom is running low.
Market21 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Ukeme Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$210.0K was the most the club would pay and Al-Hazem were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Jun 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al-Njoom is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Anger at Al-Njoom spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jun 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Njoom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The offer went to Al-Hazem 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Njoom are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Al-Njoom asked and Al-Ittihad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Lebo Mohlala falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Essam Bahri gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Jun 2027
Al-Njoom sink to position 15
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Omar Al-Salem has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Crisis meeting at Al-Njoom
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hassan Al-Musallam is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The deal with Al-Ta'ee 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zakaria Sami and Al-Njoom agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Montassar Toumi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Prince Ibara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Al-Njoom asked and Al-Ra'ed said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Prince Ibara 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 dugout31 May 2027
Prince Ibara gets it from the manager
“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 dugout31 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Njoom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout31 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kamohelo Pheeane has written the date down.
Market31 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Njoom, another week without a signature from Carlos González.
Market31 May 2027
No fee and no fanfare: Saud Al-Tumbukti’s time at Al-Njoom ends with a handshake, and Al-Nahda collect a player for the price of his wages. Somebody will call it shrewd; time will name who.
Squad31 May 2027
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Njoom
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout24 May 2027
This is not rotation. Ukeme Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Anazi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Ammar Al-Khaibari 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 dugout24 May 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout24 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Prince Ibara knocks on the manager's door
“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-Njoom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad24 May 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 May 2027
The mood at Al-Njoom has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market17 May 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Essam Bahri, and the manager let it.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages swallow 106% of the Al-Njoom 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlos González and Al-Njoom agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Al-Njoom
Position 15 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market10 May 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naser Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Njoom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Crisis meeting at Al-Njoom
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Anazi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Ammar Al-Khaibari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Njoom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout3 May 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout3 May 2027
Ahmed Karenshi without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Ahmed Karenshi was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad3 May 2027
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.
The dugout3 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Njoom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Njoom is running low.
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Ukeme Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Mohammed Fawzi 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Abdulla Mohammed asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market26 Apr 2027
The Prince Ibara talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Njoom know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 Apr 2027
Supporters organise against the Al-Njoom board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market19 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages swallow 125% of the Al-Njoom 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Fawaz Al-Hamad 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 Fawaz Al-Hamad trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kamohelo Pheeane has written the date down.
Market19 Apr 2027
Al-Njoom have made Abdulrahman Sayadi available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Apr 2027
Al-Njoom are in real trouble now
Position 15, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Abdulrahman Al-Anazi 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naser Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Prince Ibara asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Al-Njoom says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Njoom. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Omar Al-Salem has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Njoom can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Apr 2027
“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.
Match5 Apr 2027
Full time on the season at Al-Njoom
Position 15 on 16 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Njoom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match3 Apr 2027
Al-Njoom are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Prince Ibara 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Njoom can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Njoom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Njoom is running low.
Market29 Mar 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Ukeme Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hassan Al-Musallam is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Zakaria Sami
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Al-Njoom will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ammar Al-Khaibari 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulla Mohammed, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Prince Ibara gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Prince Ibara is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Al-Njoom has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match20 Mar 2027
8 matches without a win for Al-Njoom
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Al-Njoom are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Essam Bahri: 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-Njoom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match20 Mar 2027
Al-Njoom leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Anazi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Mar 2027
1‑2 to Al-Nahda, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Wages eat 118% of everything Al-Njoom earn
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Kamohelo Pheeane
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match15 Mar 2027
Al-Njoom sink to position 15
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match13 Mar 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Njoom
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Hazem was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market15 Mar 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Abdulla Mohammed: 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-Njoom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match13 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match13 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Al-Njoom
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Ammar Al-Khaibari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 15 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match6 Mar 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Njoom
A 1‑7 beating by Al-Fayha was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Omar Al-Salem has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Njoom can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Ahmed Karenshi: 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-Njoom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match6 Mar 2027
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Njoom and Al-Fayha in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Montassar Toumi and Al-Njoom agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Anazi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Njoom boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match27 Feb 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Njoom
2‑5 against Al-Saudi Al-Watani, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market1 Mar 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Ukeme Williams has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Al-Njoom is pretending otherwise.
Match27 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Njoom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match27 Feb 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al-Njoom and Al-Saudi Al-Watani, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Njoom know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Feb 2027
Supporters organise against the Al-Njoom board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market22 Feb 2027
“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.
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Prince Ibara 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Looking ahead22 Feb 2027
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Al-Njoom know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Match20 Feb 2027
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Feb 2027
Al-Njoom are in real trouble now
Position 14, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Faisaly have kept their man, and Al-Njoom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Rayan Al-Ghamdi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Prince Ibara
7.75, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Al-Njoom had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match13 Feb 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
There were 11 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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Omar Al-Salem has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Al-Njoom can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Abdulrahman Al-Anazi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prince Ibara, and the manager let it.
Match6 Feb 2027
Al-Ettifaq left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Omar Al-Salem after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Njoom
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Naser Al-Ghamdi: 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-Njoom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market1 Feb 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al-Njoom close the window on a squad of their own making
1 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Njoom can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets1 Feb 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.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I watch every Al-Njoom game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Qadisiyah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Al-Njoom board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.70, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Jan 2027
The drought breaks for Al-Njoom
11 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Ohod were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Njoom have done the hard part with Al-Taawoun, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Aboubakkar Moussa 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 terraces25 Jan 2027
At 19 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Al-Njoom get the job done against Ohod
A 2‑0 win over Ohod, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Jan 2027
11 matches without a win for Al-Njoom
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Al-Njoom are no longer polite ones.
Match18 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Al-Njoom
Position 15 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The deal with Damac 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Taawoun have kept their man, and Al-Njoom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrahman Al-Anazi 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Looking ahead18 Jan 2027
A six-pointer for Al-Njoom
Ohod next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Al-Hazem, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al-Njoom is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Essam Bahri
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
Naser Al-Ghamdi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan move for Ahmed Bahusayn is in the works
Al-Njoom have made the call to Al-Taawoun. 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
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Al-Njoom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Njoom is running low.
Match2 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Njoom's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Njoom has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Omar Al-Salem has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 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-Njoom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The deal with Al-Fayha 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces28 Dec 2026
The mood at Al-Njoom has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match26 Dec 2026
8 matches without a win for Al-Njoom
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Al-Njoom are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Anazi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
164% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Njoom
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Rayan Al-Ghamdi 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match26 Dec 2026
Al-Ta'ee blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Al-Ta'ee tried to reorganise, Al-Njoom did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Match26 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Al-Njoom
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad21 Dec 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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.
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Prince Ibara 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohammed Al-Khaibari 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naser Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Al-Njoom told Mohammed Al-Khaibari something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match12 Dec 2026
6 matches without a win for Al-Njoom
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Al-Njoom are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Njoom are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Diriyah left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zakaria Sami, and the manager let it.
Match14 Dec 2026
Al-Njoom at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 16, 5 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Omar Al-Salem has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Al-Njoom
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.76, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match5 Dec 2026
5 matches without a win for Al-Njoom
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Al-Njoom are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
Al-Njoom are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match5 Dec 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Njoom and Al-Nahda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Anazi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Al-Qadisiyah to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Njoom and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Al-Njoom board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑3 to Al-Hazem, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad30 Nov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Al-Njoom's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Njoom has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Njoom know it.
Match28 Nov 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Al-Njoom
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 155% of everything Al-Njoom 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
Aboubakkar Moussa 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Njoom
A 0‑6 beating by Al-Fayha was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Al-Njoom
Position 16 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Njoom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Njoom and Al-Fayha, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Abdulrahman Al-Anazi 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Montassar Toumi
“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.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Njoom dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrahman Al-Anazi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The 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
Naser Al-Ghamdi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Njoom
5 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Experience through the door at Al-Njoom
Zakaria Sami arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Fayha in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Rayan Al-Ghamdi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Abdulla Mohammed keeps the shirt for now, at Al-Njoom's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rayan Al-Ghamdi 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.22 — 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Essam Bahri gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Saudi Al-Watani leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Montassar Toumi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Al-Njoom spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Prince Ibara 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 155% of everything Al-Njoom 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Al-Njoom will try not to make too much of it.
The dugout2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Al-Njoom told Mohamed Al-Sarnoukh something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match26 Oct 2026
Al-Njoom sink to position 14
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Abdulla Mohammed, 34, rolls back the years — 8.12
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.12 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match24 Oct 2026
At last: Al-Njoom win one
9 matches without a win, and then this, against Al-Jeel. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings26 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
At 21 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Prince Ibara 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑6 by Al-Ettifaq, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Al-Njoom's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Njoom has to find a result from somewhere.
Match17 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Njoom and Al-Ettifaq, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Aboubakkar Moussa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Fawzi, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al-Njoom is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Al-Njoom dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Njoom
17 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Naser Al-Ghamdi knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Njoom are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Aboubakkar Moussa 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 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prince Ibara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rayan Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Mohammed Fawzi knocks on the manager's door
“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-Njoom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Al-Ettifaq next, and one man in the Al-Njoom dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Njoom. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Al-Njoom
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Njoom are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match3 Oct 2026
Al-Shoulla left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 198% of the Al-Njoom 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.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Njoom, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Market5 Oct 2026
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naser Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Prince Ibara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Al-Njoom's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Njoom has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hassan Al-Musallam is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.72 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Al-Njoom had the best player on the pitch.
Match26 Sep 2026
Al-Njoom and Ohod take a point apiece
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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Omar Al-Salem on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
10 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Al-Njoom
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Al-Njoom are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
Al-Njoom are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match19 Sep 2026
Al-Orobah left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Abdulrahman Al-Anazi 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Njoom
16 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 dugout21 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 1‑3 Omar Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Hamad Al-Ghamdi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Sep 2026
Al-Njoom bow out of the cup
Al-Nassr go through and Al-Njoom go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
A cup hiding at Al-Nassr leaves Al-Njoom explaining themselves
1-4, 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
No end in sight to Al-Njoom's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Njoom has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Al-Njoom
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Njoom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrahman Al-Anazi 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, 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.
The dugout14 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 1‑2 Omar Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 28 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Al-Njoom 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Al-Njoom had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Fateh, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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-Njoom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Aboubakkar Moussa 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naser Al-Ghamdi, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Al-Njoom will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Prince Ibara slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Prince Ibara is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market7 Sep 2026
The clock runs on Ahmed Al-Badah's contract
11 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Njoom
A 1‑4 beating by Damac was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Njoom can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Al-Fateh, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Njoom have done the hard part with Al-Fayha, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Diriyah have kept their man, and Al-Njoom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Njoom
Aboubakkar Moussa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Al-Ta'ee, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad24 Aug 2026
14 new faces, and Al-Njoom are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Safi Al-Zaqarty had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A move Aboubakkar Moussa would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Aboubakkar Moussa is living that version at Al-Njoom, and it tends to show in the first month.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Jaber Al-Hadrami delivers — 7.38
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jaber Al-Hadrami scored, was marked 7.38, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Njoom
Naser Al-Ghamdi 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
1‑3 to Al-Riyadh, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aboubakkar Moussa and Al-Njoom agree another 4 years.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prince Ibara, and the manager let it.
Market17 Aug 2026
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Kamohelo Pheeane arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kamohelo Pheeane has, at Al-Njoom, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Njoom have done the hard part with Al-Ra'ed, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kamohelo Pheeane commits to Al-Njoom for another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Prince Ibara 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saad Al-Sheikh is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rashid Al-Enezi 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdullah Al-Ahmadi 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
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Abdullah Al-Dosari 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Prince Ibara commits to Al-Njoom for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Njoom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prince Ibara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Njoom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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 targets3 Aug 2026
Al-Ra'ed have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Fawaz Al-Hamad is in the works
Al-Njoom have made the call to Al-Fateh. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.