“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 The request is on a desk at AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Tokindang 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mahamat Youssouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Tokindang is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idriss Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 The request is on a desk at AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Mahamat Youssouf has come up in conversations AS Algoy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
5 new faces, and AS Algoy are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Nobody at AS Algoy 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.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AS Algoy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Heriansyah Yan 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 at AS Algoy 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
At 24 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.
Sitiveni Matalaba 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 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idriss Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Idriss Abba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Position 11 and 21 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Mahamat Youssouf has come up in conversations AS Algoy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
5 new faces, and AS Algoy are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
In brief
SquadIdriss Abba has become a man the manager trusts
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 Marius Mahamat has come up in conversations AS Algoy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Djibrine Bechir 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idriss Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Elect Sport will make the call about Mahamat Youssouf this week. AS Algoy have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba 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.
Position 11, 21 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
“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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Mahamat Adoum falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The loan was meant to give him football. 22 games and 2 goals later he is back at AS Algoy no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Add another name to the list: CotonTchad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marius Mahamat. The answer from AS Algoy has not changed — yet.
Djibrine Bechir 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
Squad5 new faces, and AS Algoy are still learning each other
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at AS Algoy would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The 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 AS Algoy 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from CotonTchad for Marius Mahamat 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Hassan Bechir was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Add another name to the list: CotonTchad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marius Mahamat. The answer from AS Algoy has not changed — yet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahamat Tokindang and AS Algoy agree another 3 years.
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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hassan Bechir signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Idriss Mbaiguedem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
22 appearances at an average of 6.19. The minutes were the point and he is getting them, which makes the numbers harder to explain away rather than easier.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ezechiel Moustapha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 May 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Nobody at AS Algoy 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idriss Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AS Algoy told Idriss Mbaiguedem something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Idriss Abba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hassan Bechir 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 AS Algoy 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Heriansyah Yan 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mahamat Hissein provided it, and the 8.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Mahamat Adoum falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
6 goals in 20 games at AS DGSSIE — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at AS Algoy updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 13 appearances in 39 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Haroun trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Idriss Mbaiguedem will call it something else in private.
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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Mahamat Adoum falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Saleh Abba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahamat Hissein, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Heriansyah Yan 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Mahamat Oumar
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mahamat Oumar has come out of that comparison in the side, and AS Algoy have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Idriss Abba. 1‑0 against US Moursal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Aiglons runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Idriss Abba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Saleh Abba has agreed terms with Gazelle for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Saleh Ngaradoumbe has come out of that comparison in the side, and AS Algoy have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Algoy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Aiglons, 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.
Hassan Bechir 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 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Algoy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. CotonTchad will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idriss Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 16-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Mahamat Hissein 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba 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 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Saleh Ngaradoumbe 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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Algoy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ezechiel Abakar had AS Algoy level again within 1 minutes, and CotonTchad never got to play with a lead at all.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Algoy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 at AS Algoy 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
12 appearances at an average of 6.19. The minutes were the point and he is getting them, which makes the numbers harder to explain away rather than easier.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahamat Hissein, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Doungous 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.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Aiglons runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Mahamat Adoum falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. AS DGSSIE defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Saleh Abba will want back
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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 terraces20 Dec 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 11 of the 27 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 words a physio says slowly. 68 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.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Issa Doungous falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 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.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Mahamat Hissein 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 5 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Position 11 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ezechiel Moustapha had AS Algoy level again within 1 minutes, and US Moursal never got to play with a lead at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Doungous 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Idriss Abba signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Marked 5.64. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 5 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
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 hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mahamat Oumar did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba 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 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 11 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Mahamat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahamat Hissein, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Issa Doungous 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahamat Tokindang and AS Algoy agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Idriss Abba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at AS Algoy
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Brahim Allamine is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adam Djimet 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 5 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Idriss Abba signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 0 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
At 28 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Hassan Bechir 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.
At 24 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Idriss Abba 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Mahamat Hissein 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.
At 28 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Idriss Abba signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 0 appearances in 7 say he has earned the hearing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Mahamat Adoum has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rayhan Hannan is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Aiglons runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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 AS Algoy, 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 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.
Hassan Bechir 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 Jul 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rayhan Hannan 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.
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ali Mbainaissem signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Rayhan Hannan’s negotiating for him
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Idriss Moustapha was one of the reasons people came, and $6.0K does not replace that by itself.
The offer from CotonTchad for Issa Mbainaissem 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Galactik have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Issa Allamine. The answer from AS Algoy has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The loan was meant to give him football. 21 games and 1 goals later he is back at AS Algoy no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Rayhan Hannan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad5 Jul 2027
10 new faces, and AS Algoy are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
3 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.
The offer from CotonTchad for Ali Mbainaissem was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Doungous will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Add another name to the list: Aiglons have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Djibrine Mahamat. The answer from AS Algoy has not changed — yet.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Ahmat Ndoram again, and this time the name on the line is Aiglons. AS Algoy are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Aiglons will make the call about Djibrine Mahamat this week. AS Algoy have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Foullah Edifice arrived with $72.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ahmat Mahamat was one of the reasons people came, and $72.0K does not replace that by itself.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 20 appearances in 43 say he has earned the hearing.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Aiglons will make the call about Djibrine Mahamat this week. AS Algoy have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 window away with the national side, and a shirt at AS Algoy that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Aiglons have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Djibrine Mahamat. The answer from AS Algoy has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Hassan Bechir 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 May 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
24 appearances at an average of 6.18. The minutes were the point and he is getting them, which makes the numbers harder to explain away rather than easier.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Ali Mbainaissem 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Djimet 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Ezechiel Moustapha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmat Ndoram trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Algoy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Algoy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 May 2027
An order from above at AS Algoy: 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.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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 did not go to AS DGSSIE to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Algoy and fight for my place.” 14 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
Squad3 May 2027
Moussa Djimet 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Algoy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Doungous will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rayhan Hannan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Moussa Djimet 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmat Mahamat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ali Mbainaissem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ali Mbainaissem has come out of that comparison in the side, and AS Algoy have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at AS Algoy no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AS Algoy, another week without a signature from Idriss Bechir.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Idriss Abba signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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.
AS DGSSIE held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. AS Algoy answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gazelle runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmat Doungous will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Djimet 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 wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. AS Algoy have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idriss Bechir will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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 AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hassan Bechir commits to AS Algoy for another 4 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Hassan Bechir 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 0 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Moussa Djimet falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 crowd waited for a goal that never came. Gazelle defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AS DGSSIE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The deal that would have taken Ahmat Mahamat to Foullah Edifice has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to AS Algoy with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Idriss Bechir has come up in conversations AS Algoy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AS DGSSIE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Djimet 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.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
A brace, and Idriss Abba takes the afternoon — 8.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Idriss Abba provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Three points for AS Algoy, 2‑1 the final word against AS Etat Major in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Elect Sport arrived with $54.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is going to Elect Sport, the club has $54.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Galactik paid $2.0K and AS Algoy took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The AS Algoy dressing room has split into 3 groups
Squads form friendships and that is healthy; this is not that. 3 separate groups, 2 players belonging to none of them, and a set of tables at lunch that have stopped rearranging themselves. It very rarely fixes itself.
Ezechiel Moustapha 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. 24 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 phone has started ringing about Abdramane Mbainaissem again, and this time the name on the line is Elect Sport. AS Algoy are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Algoy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Hassan Bechir 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. AS Algoy have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gazelle runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdramane Mbainaissem 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Saleh Abba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Algoy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ali Mbainaissem 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 1‑0 win over AS DGSSIE, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Idriss Abba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Marked 5.34. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ali Mbainaissem signs something — a contract at AS Algoy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 34 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A first appearance Brahim Oumar will want to forget — 5.32
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.32, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mahamat Adoum falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Algoy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 7 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The division's best last weekend was a AS Algoy man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Mahamat Hissein was the best thing in any of them.
Marked 5.23. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Marked 5.27. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
“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 AS Algoy, 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 AS Algoy 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. Abdramane Mbainaissem 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.
Mahamat Hissein was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gazelle runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Moussa Djimet 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Algoy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 34 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Hassan Bechir 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.
1‑2 to Gazelle, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mahamat Adoum 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.
Marked 5.21. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at AS Algoy can tell you which week it ends in.
“I watch every AS Algoy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AS DGSSIE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Djimet 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmat Mahamat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Foullah Edifice go through and AS Algoy go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“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 AS Algoy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A first appearance Ali Allamine will want to forget — 5.46
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.46, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Algoy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mahamat Adoum falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at AS Algoy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Adoum 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.
Abdramane Mbainaissem 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 5 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
At 15 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Algoy can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 12 of the 33 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.38, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Hassan Bechir 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Idriss Moustapha is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Algoy, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.