Abdulmajeed Ayash 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.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Nobody at Al-Orobah is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al-Wehda defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Orobah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omar Al-Dawsari will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Orobah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.86 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Boardroom4 Dec 2034
An order from above at Al-Orobah: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad4 Dec 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Abdullah Al-Subaie 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omar Al-Dawsari will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Orobah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Al-Mojzel the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Al-Orobah will enjoy reviewing.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohammed Madkhali and Al-Orobah agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Faisal Al-Rashid 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.
“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-Orobah can pretend not to have heard.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.88 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Al-Orobah are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Faisal Al-Rashid 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.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Orobah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Sep 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan 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.
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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 114th minute. Al-Shabab will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Orobah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marked 7.67. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
In brief
SquadAhmed Al-Juwaid falls out with a teammate over standards
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan 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.
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
“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-Orobah, and it is not being withdrawn.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
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.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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 phone has started ringing about Omar Al-Dawsari again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Njoom. Al-Orobah are listening politely and promising nothing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Al-Orobah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad14 Aug 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Salem Al-Ahmadi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bandar Al-Rashid has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nasser Al-Juhani is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Turki Al-Otaibi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
In brief
SquadAhmed Al-Juwaid falls out with a teammate over standards
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Faisal Al-Rashid 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Orobah is running low.
“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-Orobah can pretend not to have heard.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
“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-Orobah, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
41 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Jul 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan 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.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
“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 Jun 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The 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.
Boardroom5 Jun 2034
An order from above at Al-Orobah: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Orobah is running low.
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.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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-Orobah can pretend not to have heard.
Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 May 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Orobah is running low.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
In brief
SquadAli Al-Sultan has become a man the manager trusts
BoardroomThe Al-Orobah production line keeps running
403Edition
The Al-Orobah Post
17 Apr 2034
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad17 Apr 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is 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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Orobah is running low.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
In brief
SquadWords at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAli Al-Sultan has become a man the manager trusts
Abdulmajeed Ayash 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.
Squad20 Mar 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
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.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Salem Al-Qahtani has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom6 Mar 2034
An order from above at Al-Orobah: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad6 Mar 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Turki Al-Otaibi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings27 Feb 2034
Turki Al-Otaibi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.47. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Feb 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 161% of everything Al-Orobah earn
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad6 Feb 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan 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.
11 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.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
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.
“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.
Squad23 Jan 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is 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.
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.
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.
5 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad16 Jan 2034
The manager has not finished forgetting Ahmed Al-Juwaid's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad9 Jan 2034
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
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 ratings2 Jan 2034
Nawaf Al-Osaimi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Al-Orobah are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Dec 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
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.
Abdullah Al-Subaie was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
0‑3 to Al-Shoulla, 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Al-Orobah deserved better, and so did he.
Nobody at Al-Orobah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
6 goals in one match, Turki Al-Otaibi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Orobah and Ohod.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad12 Dec 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Turki Al-Otaibi 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 words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Turki Al-Otaibi 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Orobah, another week without a signature from Mohammed Madkhali.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Khalid Al-Qahtani is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces28 Nov 2033
The mood at Al-Orobah 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.
0‑3 to Al-Fayha, 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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Nov 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
In brief
Boardroom158% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Orobah
The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohammed Madkhali. 3‑1 against Al-Mojzel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Nov 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Marked 8.33 — 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.
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.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
A 2‑0 win over Al-Jeel, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings7 Nov 2033
Nawaf Al-Osaimi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
BoardroomThe Al-Orobah production line keeps running
379Edition
The Al-Orobah Post
31 Oct 2033
From our football correspondentSteady
The terraces31 Oct 2033
The mood at Al-Orobah 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Oct 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Ali Al-Sultan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is 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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad17 Oct 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
Nobody at Al-Orobah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces3 Oct 2033
The mood at Al-Orobah 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.50 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Oct 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings3 Oct 2033
Ali Al-Sultan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
Squad26 Sep 2033
Anass Najah 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.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anass Najah 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.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces5 Sep 2033
The mood at Al-Orobah 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.
7 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.
Boardroom5 Sep 2033
An order from above at Al-Orobah: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Orobah and Al-Shoulla in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Sep 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Orobah and Ohod in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Turki Al-Otaibi 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 words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Al-Orobah and Najran, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad22 Aug 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anass Najah 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.
Beaten 7 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Omar Al-Dawsari 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
0‑3 to Al-Fayha, 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad15 Aug 2033
Anass Najah 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ali Al-Subaie 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.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Aug 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Al-Orobah is running low.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahim Al-Otaibi is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jul 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
“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-Orobah, and it is not being withdrawn.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jun 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Yasser Al-Sulami is 16, and Al-Orobah have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Saad Al-Sulami is 15, and Al-Orobah have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
He is 15, and nobody at Al-Orobah signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmed Al-Juwaid and Al-Orobah agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Jun 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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 name of Salman Al-Shehri has come up in conversations Al-Orobah were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Ali Al-Sultan 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Abdulmajeed Ayash's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
In brief
Boardroom$31.6K taken back off the Al-Orobah table
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Squad23 May 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulmajeed Ayash is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He 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-Orobah will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Orobah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
In brief
Boardroom99% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Orobah
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Hamed Al-Maghati 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.
Squad9 May 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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-Orobah can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Orobah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
“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-Orobah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salman Al-Shehri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Orobah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
In brief
Boardroom119% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Orobah
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Orobah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Orobah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
“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-Orobah, and it is not being withdrawn.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Mar 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Orobah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salman Al-Shehri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Orobah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Mar 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ibrahim Al-Otaibi did not need any: 8.17, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Orobah and Al-Batin in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Turki Al-Otaibi 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.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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-Orobah can pretend not to have heard.
Hamed Al-Maghati 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.
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.
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.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Ibrahim Al-Otaibi scored in the 87th minute, Al-Njoom had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Al-Orobah took the lot.
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salman Al-Shehri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Orobah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ibrahim Al-Otaibi. 3‑2 against Al-Njoom, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 152% of everything Al-Orobah earn
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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-Orobah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Khalid Al-Qahtani is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Hamed Al-Maghati 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.
Squad31 Jan 2033
Words at Al-Orobah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Al-Juwaid 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Turki Al-Otaibi 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.
Al-Nahda made Al-Orobah work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings31 Jan 2033
Turki Al-Otaibi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.45. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Orobah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Orobah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salman Al-Shehri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Orobah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nawaf Al-Osaimi 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 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.
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.