“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ASO Chlef have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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 finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ASO Chlef have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdellah Debbari commits to ASO Chlef for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fayçal Mebarki 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.
Ibrahim Farhi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
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 Said Bensebaini left the room before anybody could ask which.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
João Pedro Tchoca 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.
15 combined actions and 6.92. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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. ASO Chlef will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Nobody at ASO Chlef 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at ASO Chlef until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramy Belkebla 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aissa Mrezigue 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. Adel Bounedjah is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ASO Chlef will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. João Pedro Tchoca is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ASO Chlef have done the hard part with Fortaleza, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fayçal Mebarki was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ASO Chlef will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
ASO Chlef had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at JS Kabylie, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
João Pedro Tchoca 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.
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. São Paulo have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Abdelkader Boussaid has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutSofiane Kacem knocks on the manager's door
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ASO Chlef will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at ASO Chlef, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Nobody at ASO Chlef 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Malam Malu
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ASO Chlef will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. ASO Chlef will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
ASO Chlef had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Wadi Degla, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fortaleza have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Kamel Belarbi has come up in conversations ASO Chlef were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Vasco da Gama 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ASO Chlef will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
141 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bahia have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Sofiane Kacem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Oussama Benattia has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ASO Chlef will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Ahly is saying, and nobody at ASO Chlef is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Alili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oussama Benattia signs something — a contract at ASO Chlef or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ASO Chlef will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Tarek Bouabta 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation ASO Chlef are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ASO Chlef will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at ASO Chlef, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Wadi Degla keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
ASO Chlef asked and Police Union said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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.
Tarek Bouabta 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.
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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Amoory is in the works
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ASO Chlef will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
ASO Chlef and MC El Bayadh have settled on $48.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deal with Wadi Degla 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.
João Pedro Tchoca 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 ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ASO Chlef will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from JS Kabylie for Ayoub Kerssani 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 fee is $200.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. CR Belouizdad drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
João Pedro Tchoca 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 offer went to Paradou 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili 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.
Not every move is upward. He has taken terms worse than the ones he left, and the only question that matters now is whether the football makes up the difference.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ASO Chlef will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at ASO Chlef, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ASO Chlef have done the hard part with CR Belouizdad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
ASO Chlef offered $57.0K; Paradou 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.
CS Constantine pay $180.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moslem Anatouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Ayoub Kerssani again, and this time the name on the line is JS Kabylie. ASO Chlef are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Toufik Addi is in the works
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and CS Constantine waiting with a shirt. Nobody at ASO Chlef is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have shaken hands with CS Constantine; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Cruzeiro 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.
$57.0K on the table at Paradou. 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: CR Belouizdad will make the call about Redouane Zerdoum this week. ASO Chlef have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ittihad have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili 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.
ASO Chlef have made the call to Cruzeiro. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf 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.
Tarek Bouabta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at ASO Chlef will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Naoufel Merdja has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means ASO Chlef have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Alili 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 Zoubir Motrani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
João Pedro Tchoca 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 season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. ASO Chlef know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at ASO Chlef. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
João Pedro Tchoca 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 Moslem Anatouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Malam Malu 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 ASO Chlef 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 Mustapha Alili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Abderrahmane Medjadel is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at ASO Chlef. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. ASO Chlef know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. ASO Chlef would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Mohamed Arab a promise
The dugoutFatah Achour knocks on the manager's door
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Belkacem Brahimi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 34, with 224 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutSofiane Kacem asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Joseph George
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 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 ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moslem Anatouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to João Pedro Tchoca and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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.
Paradou next, and one man in the ASO Chlef dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Moslem Anatouf, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.17
A mark of 8.17 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
João Pedro Tchoca 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.
Three points for ASO Chlef, 2‑1 the final word against ES Ben Aknoun in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.32 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Belkacem Brahimi and ASO Chlef agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Moslem Anatouf 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Olympique Akbou spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moslem Anatouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Said Bensebaini to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at ASO Chlef than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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.
Tarek Bouabta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at ASO Chlef 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at ASO Chlef pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. CS Constantine moved on, Anis Elhadj Benchouya reports back to ASO Chlef, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
João Pedro Tchoca 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Internacional have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 ASO Chlef, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
ASO Chlef close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 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 ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cruzeiro have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at ASO Chlef, and it is not being withdrawn.
ASO Chlef and MC Oran have settled on $1.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf 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: 17. 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. MC El Bayadh will replay every second of the added time for a week.
ASO Chlef asked and USM Alger said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Joseph George 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 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Moslem Anatouf 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.
In brief
SquadMoslem Anatouf falls out with a teammate over standards
$140.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
He is going to USM Khenchela, the club has $140.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Malam Malu is living that version at ASO Chlef, and it tends to show in the first month.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. MC Oran have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between ASO Chlef and CS Constantine, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oussama Benattia and ASO Chlef agree another 4 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Tarek Bouabta 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Said Bensebaini after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
ASO Chlef have made the call to Olympique Akbou. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Oussama Benattia has come out of that comparison in the side, and ASO Chlef have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Tarek Bouabta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Belkacem Brahimi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ASO Chlef needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gustavo Santana did not need any: 7.99, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Sofiane Kacem 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
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.” Said Bensebaini, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. ASO Chlef told Zoubir Motrani something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 ratings14 Dec 2026
Gustavo Santana, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.59
A mark of 8.59 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
7 goals in one match, Roger Gabriel on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of ASO Chlef and Paradou.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Santana was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Joseph George 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef 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 easiest signature of my career.” Chemseddine Bekkouche and ASO Chlef agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. ASO Chlef will try not to make too much of it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Said Bensebaini after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Gustavo Santana, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.13
A mark of 8.13 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Santana is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Olympique Akbou will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Santana was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.24. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. ASO Chlef know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anis Elhadj Benchouya and ASO Chlef agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Tarek Bouabta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Said Bensebaini left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Nobody at ASO Chlef 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Joseph George, 21, 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 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Joseph George 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.
Tarek Bouabta 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Said Bensebaini, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
Sofiane Kacem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Said Bensebaini to a room that had heard them before.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Moslem Anatouf is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Chemseddine Bekkouche’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ASO Chlef needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Gustavo Santana, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.09
A mark of 8.09 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Joseph George was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and ASO Chlef are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Something was said to Roger Gabriel and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moslem Anatouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for ASO Chlef
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Santana provided it, and the 8.78 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Oussama Benattia is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
2‑3 to JS Saoura, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Santana 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.
Joseph George 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Said Bensebaini left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Abderrahmane Medjadel is on it.
Something was said to Joseph George and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Abderrahmane Medjadel: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ASO Chlef have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mustapha Alili. 1‑0 against MB Rouissat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Santana provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gustavo Santana. 3‑1 against MC El Bayadh, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Roger Gabriel 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.
Tarek Bouabta 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.26, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moslem Anatouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Roger Gabriel
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Alili 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 has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mohamed Barka’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ASO Chlef needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Belia has, at ASO Chlef, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Mohamed Medjaji had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Zoubir Motrani is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“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 ASO Chlef, and it is not being withdrawn.
ASO Chlef asked and America Mineiro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Joseph George 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation ASO Chlef are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at ASO Chlef training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moslem Anatouf 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 has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Zoubir Motrani’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ASO Chlef needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 ASO Chlef would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ASO Chlef can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ittihad keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Joseph George 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation ASO Chlef are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bahia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Tarek Bouabta 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 competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Anis Elhadj Benchouya keeps the shirt for now, at ASO Chlef's convenience rather than his own.
The offer from USM Alger for Abderrahmane Medjadel 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 deal with Bahia 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Petrojet have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nassim Ounas 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. Bilal Mandi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdelhak Djabou is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASO Chlef this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
ASO Chlef have made the call to Wadi Degla. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The offer from ES Setif for Mohamed Medjaji 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abderrahmane Medjadel and ASO Chlef agree another 4 years.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and ASO Chlef go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Tarek Bouabta 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Abderrahmane Medjadel’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
ASO Chlef have made the call to MC Alger. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at ASO Chlef has been clear about where Tarek Bouabta stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
SquadMustapha Alili falls out with a teammate over standards