Position 3, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Al-Qadisiyah can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anas Al-Ahmadi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Qadisiyah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Al-Siyahi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Qadisiyah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
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.
Koen Casteels 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 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.
14 goals in 30 games at Al-Batin — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Al-Qadisiyah updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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 Leonel Wamba is on it.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Julián Quiñones plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Qadisiyah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Qadisiyah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Suleman Sani’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Position 3, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anas Al-Ahmadi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Qadisiyah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abdullah Madu 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Qadisiyah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Waleed Al-Ahmad has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutAbdullah Madu knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah 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.
With 8 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
Abdullah Madu 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.
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 Mohammed Qasem is on it.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Al-Qadisiyah would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdullah Madu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julián Quiñones was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Leonel Wamba is on it.
Turki Al-Ammar has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Qadisiyah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
4 goals in 24 games at Al Wasl — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Al-Qadisiyah updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
3 goals in 29 games at Al-Hazem — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Al-Qadisiyah updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Julián Quiñones 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Qadisiyah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Al-Qadisiyah have no good answer.
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 Waleed Al-Ahmad has written the date down.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anas Al-Ahmadi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Qadisiyah 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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Qadisiyah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Al-Qadisiyah can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Qadisiyah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Amar Al-Yuhaybi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
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.
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 Leonel Wamba is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Qadisiyah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
4 goals in 22 games at Al Wasl — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Al-Qadisiyah updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
11 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julián Quiñones provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Qadisiyah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match6 Feb 2027
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Al-Qadisiyah. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tijjani Reijnders 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gastón Álvarez and Al-Qadisiyah agree another 4 years.
10 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The offer from Al-Ra'ed for Musab Al-Juwayr was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al-Qadisiyah close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 3 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Al-Qadisiyah heard it as anything else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Boca Juniors is saying, and nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is enjoying the guessing.
Najran will want this one forgotten quickly: 9‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Qadisiyah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Qadisiyah and Najran in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julián Quiñones provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Qadisiyah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Add another name to the list: FC Copenhagen have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Julian Weigl. The answer from Al-Qadisiyah has not changed — yet.
Koen Casteels and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Qadisiyah have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Koen Casteels 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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Qadisiyah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Al-Qadisiyah have had the benefit 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-Qadisiyah, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Qadisiyah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Suleman Sani has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
110% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Qadisiyah
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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Qadisiyah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Al-Qadisiyah and Hajer, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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 words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Ahmed Al-Enezi could afford to be generous.
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
A mark of 8.05 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Qadisiyah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Al-Qadisiyah can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
6 goals in one match, Otávio on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Faisaly.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Al-Faisaly made Al-Qadisiyah work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Julian Weigl was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julián Quiñones provided it, and the 9.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
15 combined actions and 7.76. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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.
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Qadisiyah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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-Qadisiyah can pretend not to have heard.
Julián Quiñones 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match21 Nov 2026
After 4 games, Al-Qadisiyah finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Al-Ittihad; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
Looking aheadAl-Qadisiyah take on the side everybody is chasing
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Qadisiyah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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-Qadisiyah can pretend not to have heard.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Musab Al-Juwayr scored, was marked 7.89, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Koen Casteels 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 training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 9 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Qadisiyah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.96 — 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.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Qadisiyah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Qadisiyah hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Marked 8.12 — 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Al-Qadisiyah told Tijjani Reijnders something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Al-Qadisiyah have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
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.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Qadisiyah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Najran will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Qadisiyah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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-Qadisiyah can pretend not to have heard.
Marked 9.97 — 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Qadisiyah and Najran, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Qadisiyah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Tijjani Reijnders wants continental football; whether Al-Qadisiyah can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tijjani Reijnders 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.
A point taken on 90 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 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.
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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
With 7 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Ahli in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Qadisiyah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Al-Wehda will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Qadisiyah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julián Quiñones provided it, and the 9.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Christopher Bonsu Baah did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
1 for Musab Al-Juwayr, marked 7.88, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Julián Quiñones 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tijjani Reijnders 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.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Ahmed Al-Enezi left the room before anybody could ask which.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Qadisiyah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Christopher Bonsu Baah did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Koen Casteels 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.
12 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Qadisiyah and Hajer in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Julián Quiñones was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.89. 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.
Marked 9.46 — 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.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The 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.
Al-Qadisiyah asked and San Martín SJ 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 offer from Borussia Mönchengladbach for Julian Weigl was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tijjani Reijnders 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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 8 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Al-Qadisiyah asked and Napoli 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Dhafra have kept their man, and Al-Qadisiyah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Suleman Sani'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.
CSKA Moscow paid $9.8M and Al-Qadisiyah took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mateo Retegui was one of the reasons people came, and $32.4M does not replace that by itself.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
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.
Al-Qadisiyah asked and Modena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Montevideo City Torque 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.
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-Qadisiyah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 goals in one match, Julián Quiñones on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Ra'ed.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tijjani Reijnders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Christopher Bonsu Baah 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Qadisiyah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Hajer for Otávio was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Al-Qadisiyah heard it as anything else.
Koen Casteels 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Talal Al-Otaibi 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Qadisiyah hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The phone has started ringing about Otávio again, and this time the name on the line is Hajer. Al-Qadisiyah are listening politely and promising nothing.
Mateo Retegui and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Qadisiyah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tijjani Reijnders 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.