Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Mbaiguedem 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.
“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.
Boardroom31 Dec 2029
Nobody left the AS Etat Major dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout31 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Brahim Abakar left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Hassan Hissein had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Galactik were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Idriss Oumar, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.62
A mark of 7.62 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Mbaiguedem 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 are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
SquadA AS Etat Major teenager takes the young player award
Hassan Hissein, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74
A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Stars Jeunes Talents. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
At 20 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 earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Brahim Abakar on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oumar Hissein trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
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.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Brahim Abakar after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adam Abakar did not need any: 8.27, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 18 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.
Gazelle held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. AS Etat Major answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and Foullah Edifice in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahamat Mbaiguedem and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 15-year-old it feels ownership of. Issa Abakar 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Nobody at AS Etat Major is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Aiglons go through and AS Etat Major go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
9 combined actions and 7.12. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Adam Abakar is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
SquadAdam Abakar, 18, is the weekend’s best young player
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hassan Hissein. 2‑1 against AS Algoy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 17 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Brahim Abakar on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Marcellin Biandao 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.
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Mbaiguedem 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
0‑4 against Renaissance, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Mbaiguedem 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.
Boardroom15 Oct 2029
Nobody left the AS Etat Major dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
1 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marcellin Biandao commits to AS Etat Major for another 2 years.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at AS Etat Major
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hassan Hissein. 3‑2 against AS DGSSIE, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Issa Doungous 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Adam Souleymane 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. Moussa Ngaradoumbe 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Oumar Hissein and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Oumar Hissein is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Etat Major know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at AS Etat Major is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Brahim Abakar has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
AS Etat Major close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to Oumar Hissein and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Etat Major know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The name of Mahamat Mbaiguedem has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Marcellin Biandao 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 Aug 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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 mood at AS Etat Major has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at AS Etat Major
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Oumar 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.
Add another name to the list: CotonTchad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmat Abakar. The answer from AS Etat Major has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 11 and 19 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at AS Etat Major can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Narcisse Mbaiguedem and AS Etat Major agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Marcellin Biandao was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abdoulaye Hissein is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at AS Etat Major
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer went to Elect Sport this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
$4.0K was the most the club would pay and Stars Jeunes Talents were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The phone has started ringing about Ahmat Abakar again, and this time the name on the line is CotonTchad. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Saleh Souleymane and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oumar Hissein and AS Etat Major agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
AS Etat Major offered $180.0K; Elect Sport said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at AS Etat Major can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
AS Etat Major have gone to Elect Sport with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oumar Hissein and AS Etat Major agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Oumar Hissein and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ali Doungous has his answer from AS Etat Major; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Adam Mbainaissem had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have shaken hands with Elect Sport; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Stars Jeunes Talents wanted more than $4.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at AS Etat Major that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at AS Etat Major can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Etat Major know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The phone has started ringing about Adam Mbainaissem again, and this time the name on the line is AS Algoy. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Etat Major has been clear about where Mahamat Mbaiguedem stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Marcellin Biandao was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
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.
Boardroom28 May 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at AS Etat Major
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 11 and 19 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 Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ahmat Abakar
The dugoutOumar Hissein asks for a word with the manager
SquadAhmat Abakar is not doing himself any favours
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Oumar Hissein and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major 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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Brahim Abakar has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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 Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Idriss Abba signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at AS Etat Major says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at AS Etat Major is running low.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ezechiel Bechir and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major 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.
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Etat Major know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major 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 Oumar Hissein trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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 mood at AS Etat Major has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
1‑5 to AS PSI, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Adam Mbainaissem, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and AS PSI in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Galactik were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Oumar 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Hassan Hissein has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The goal that put Stars Jeunes Talents ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when AS Etat Major equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamat Mbaiguedem 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at AS Etat Major pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Brahim Abakar was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the AS Etat Major dressing room was either.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. US Moursal kept coming because nothing stopped them, and AS Etat Major will be asked about the last half hour all week.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Adam Mbainaissem, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.33
A mark of 8.33 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 17, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
At 17 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
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. Adam Mbainaissem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marcellin Biandao and AS Etat Major agree another 2 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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adam Abakar did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑6 beating by Foullah Edifice was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Adam Mbainaissem, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between AS Etat Major and Foullah Edifice, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marcellin Biandao 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.
Beaten 6 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
AS Etat Major ran out of time with Elect Sport. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Aiglons left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Brahim Abakar left the room before anybody could ask which.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
The dugoutOumar Hissein knocks on the manager's door
SquadAdam Abakar, 17, is the weekend’s best young player
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adam Abakar did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have shaken hands with Elect Sport; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major 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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Stars Jeunes Talents wanted more than $4.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
At 17 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.
“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 Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcellin Biandao, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Brahim Abakar left the room before anybody could ask which.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to Elect Sport this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Marcellin Biandao 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 Ahmat Abakar, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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 Etat Major will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
0‑6 against Renaissance, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Etat Major and Renaissance in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Add another name to the list: AS Algoy have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adam Mbainaissem. The answer from AS Etat Major has not changed — yet.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑6 defeat, delivered by Brahim Abakar to a room that had heard them before.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. AS DGSSIE will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adam Mbainaissem provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adam Mbainaissem. 2‑1 against AS DGSSIE, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 18 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.
Half the programme played, position 11, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
AS PSI left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Brahim Abakar left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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 Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutAhmat Abakar dropped after a run of poor form
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Hassan Hissein, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Marcellin Biandao 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Hassan Hissein, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
9 matches without a win, and then this, against Stars Jeunes Talents. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdoulaye Abba and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hassan Hissein. 1‑0 against Stars Jeunes Talents, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Brahim Abakar on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.67, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Marius Allamine, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
At 18 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.
A point taken on 96 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hassan Hissein and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
8 appearances at an average of 6.33, and the senior players have stopped making excuses for him. It happens to good footballers; it still costs somebody their job.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcellin Biandao, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Brahim Abakar left the room before anybody could ask which.
US Moursal next, and one man in the AS Etat Major dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
0‑7 to Elect Sport, 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between AS Etat Major and Elect Sport, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marcellin Biandao 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.
Beaten 7 times, 4 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑7 defeat, delivered by Brahim Abakar to a room that had heard them before.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Brahim Abakar to a room that had heard them before.
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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmat Abakar and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Etat Major has been clear about where Narcisse Mbaiguedem stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AS Etat Major and Galactik, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Oumar Hissein and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Something was said to Saleh Abba and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. AS Etat Major have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
AS Etat Major interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Brahim Abakar keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Allamine trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 17 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Brahim Abakar after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 19 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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Etat Major will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Hassan Hissein, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdramane Abba. 3‑2 against AS DGSSIE, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Hassan Hissein 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.
It is the quietest kind of dressing-room problem and the one that lasts longest, because nobody has done anything anyone can be disciplined for. 3 players sit outside all 4 groups entirely, which is the detail that tends to matter.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Etat Major will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdoulaye Mbaiguedem is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Idriss Doungous and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
A new manager did not pick last season’s side and does not care what it looked like. Marcellin Biandao has taken that personally, in the best sense, and AS Etat Major are seeing a version of him the last regime had stopped seeing.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdramane Oumar has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Djibrine Doungous has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saleh Moustapha is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Idriss Abakar has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Etat Major, 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 Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The shirt still fits. Oumar Hissein is back at AS Etat Major, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
AS Etat Major offered $130.0K; Renaissance said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
AS Etat Major ran out of time with AS PSI. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
3 groups that do not mix, and 2 players belonging to none of them. Nothing here can be fined or dropped, which is why it lasts longer than any row that can.
Oumar Hissein and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 17, and nobody at AS Etat Major signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Stars Jeunes Talents waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Adam Youssouf reports back to AS Etat Major with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
AS PSI have accepted the money. What AS Etat Major do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
AS Etat Major close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 12 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
AS Etat Major have gone to Renaissance with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. AS Etat Major will try again when the window opens; Aiglons may not be selling by then.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Etat Major have lost him in all but the paperwork.
AS Etat Major have made the call to Galactik. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moussa Abba signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AS Etat Major, another week without a signature from Ali Doungous.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Etat Major have done the hard part with Aiglons, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to Renaissance this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Ezechiel Mbaiguedem has come up in conversations AS Etat Major were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdramane Bechir and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Etat Major lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from US Moursal for Djibrine Mbaiguedem 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 Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: US Moursal have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adam Youssouf. The answer from AS Etat Major has not changed — yet.
AS Etat Major offered $100.0K; Renaissance said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aiglons have kept their man, and AS Etat Major go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Djibrine Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Etat Major have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
$100.0K on the table at Renaissance. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
SquadWords at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Etat Major lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Etat Major have done the hard part with Galactik, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moussa Abba signs something — a contract at AS Etat Major or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at AS Etat Major would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Stars Jeunes Talents waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Aiglons is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The offer went to Renaissance this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$80.0K was the most the club would pay and AS PSI were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
AS Etat Major asked and AS PSI said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Etat Major lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and US Moursal waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The phone has started ringing about Adam Moustapha again, and this time the name on the line is AS Algoy. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
$7.0K on the table at AS Algoy. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
AS Etat Major offered $94.0K; Renaissance said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aiglons have kept their man, and AS Etat Major go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadWords at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and US Moursal waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
$94.0K on the table at Renaissance. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer went to AS PSI this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The phone has started ringing about Mahamat Mbaiguedem again, and this time the name on the line is US Moursal. AS Etat Major are listening politely and promising nothing.
Still no offer on the table, and Marcellin Biandao’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Etat Major lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS Algoy waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Etat Major have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from AS Algoy for Adam Youssouf was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marius Allamine and AS Etat Major agree another 4 years.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
AS PSI have accepted the money. What AS Etat Major do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Etat Major have done the hard part with AS Algoy, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to Renaissance this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narcisse Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutAdam Youssouf asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Stars Jeunes Talents waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from AS DGSSIE for Djibrine Mbaiguedem 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 Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marcellin Biandao 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 Etat Major offered $94.0K; Renaissance said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Stars Jeunes Talents have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narcisse Mbaiguedem 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 Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and US Moursal waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
$94.0K on the table at Renaissance. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Marcellin Biandao and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Stars Jeunes Talents will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. a squad player has pre-agreed a move to AS Etat Major, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everything agreed with CotonTchad, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Etat Major has been clear about where Ali Doungous stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major 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 Saleh Abba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Adam Moustapha is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses 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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Saleh Abba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Idriss Abba’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad22 May 2028
Questions about Ahmat Abakar on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
“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 Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narcisse Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ezechiel Bechir and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adam Youssouf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at AS Etat Major has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Still no offer on the table, and Narcisse Mbaiguedem’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Etat Major can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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 Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Idriss Abba on the training pitch
“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 Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Issa Tokindang 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saleh Souleymane and AS Etat Major agree another 4 years.
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 Saleh Abba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Adam Moustapha is on it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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 Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Three points for AS Etat Major, 1‑0 the final word against AS PSI in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Marius Bechir, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narcisse Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Adam Mbainaissem and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Djibrine Mbaiguedem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Stars Jeunes Talents had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It needed Abdramane Abba to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Stars Jeunes Talents, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Marius Bechir was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the AS Etat Major dressing room was either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narcisse Mbaiguedem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hassan Hissein, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74
A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Issa Tokindang 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hassan Hissein. 2‑1 against US Moursal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 17 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.
7.79, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. AS Etat Major had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Marius Bechir kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“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 Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Youssouf, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Marius Bechir left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at AS Etat Major training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Saleh Abba is a AS Etat Major player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
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 deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. AS Etat Major will try again when the window opens; CotonTchad may not be selling by then.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Adam Moustapha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Issa Tokindang and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clock did what AS PSI would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Nobody left the AS Etat Major dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Marius Bechir left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Issa Abakar, 14 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
“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 Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. US Moursal moved on, Adam Youssouf reports back to AS Etat Major, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The clubs have shaken hands with AS PSI; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Issa Tokindang 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.