Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Aswan know it.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 finished 2‑0, and it was Mostafa Disha’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Aswan.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Mostafa Disha was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. 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.
Position 7, 25 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
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.” Christoph Richter kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Military Production will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Aswan were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
A brace, and Seidu Basit takes the afternoon — 9.69
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Seidu Basit provided it, and the 9.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Seidu Basit 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Military Production tried to reorganise, Aswan did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Sergio Sardinha: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 goals in one match, Fortune Bassey on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Aswan and Smouha.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.04 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Christoph Richter could afford to be generous.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
A point taken on 93 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Zaki, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Christoph Richter was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Aswan dressing room was either.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 128 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aswan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 combined actions and 6.65. 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Haras El Hodoud had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It needed Fortune Bassey to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Haras El Hodoud, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Seidu Basit was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Christoph Richter could afford to be generous.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aswan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
A brace, and Seidu Basit takes the afternoon — 8.92
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Seidu Basit provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fortune Bassey 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.
Marked 8.46 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Aswan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
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.” Christoph Richter, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
In brief
Looking aheadAswan take on the side everybody is chasing
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Seidu Basit 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Police Union had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Seidu Basit 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.30 — 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Aswan has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
In brief
The dugoutOmar Zaki left out for tactical reasons at Aswan
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Christoph Richter chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Nobody at Aswan 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan 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.
Aswan asked and Al Ahly 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout17 Sep 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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Christoph Richter to a room that had heard them before.
5 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Seidu Basit 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.
Aswan asked and Zamalek said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
Aswan ran out of time with Zamalek. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Christoph Richter after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Al Ahly.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 12 gone
That is the business done at Aswan 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.
Seidu Basit 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Aswan and Haras El Hodoud have settled on $95.0K. 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aswan have done the hard part with Masr El Makasa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 16 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have shaken hands with El Masry; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Walid Trezeguet 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. El Sayed Marwan 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. Trezeguet Warda 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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aswan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 15 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.
Aswan asked and Zamalek said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aswan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Seidu Basit 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mostafa Tarek is 16, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Aswan asked and Al-Hilal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Berekum Chelsea 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 Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have shaken hands with El Masry; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Nader Hesham has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Hilal have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aswan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 143 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Aswan and ENPPI have settled on $25.0K. 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.
Seidu Basit 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Mostafa Disha has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zamalek have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Aswan have made the call to MC El Bayadh. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Julius Ikechukwu has written the date down.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
$37.0K settles it between the clubs for Ali Ghazal
Zamalek have accepted the money. What Aswan do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ahmed Ibrahim is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aswan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aswan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
Fortune Bassey 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. Zamalek have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Aswan, another week without a signature from Nader Hesham.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan 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.” Aswan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Seidu Basit 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wadi Degla have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have shaken hands with ENPPI; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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 Aswan, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aswan have done the hard part with Masr El Makasa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Aswan know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aswan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Aswan 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Ettifaq have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Masr El Makasa: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Seidu Basit 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.
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.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fortune Bassey 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aswan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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.
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 Julius Ikechukwu has written the date down.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Seidu Basit was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fortune Bassey signs something — a contract at Aswan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Ahmed Hamoudi has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aswan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Aswan could ask drops and the wages Mohamed El Fayoumi can ask rise.
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.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aswan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Seidu Basit was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aswan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Military Production will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Aswan were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aswan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Seidu Basit and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Fortune Bassey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.97. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. El Sayed Marwan 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. Salah Trezeguet 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. Mostafa Tarek 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. Karim El Shenawy 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.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aswan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fortune Bassey 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mostafa Disha. 2‑1 against Wadi Degla, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
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.” Christoph Richter kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aswan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Seidu Basit was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Noble Rumsey damages knee ligaments — 113 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.02 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aswan can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Noble Rumsey damages knee ligaments — 131 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 131 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 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 Aswan 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.
The dugout19 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 0‑2 Christoph Richter left the room before anybody could ask which.
El Masry next, and one man in the Aswan dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Seidu Basit 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.
Marked 7.10 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aswan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aswan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Aswan close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 6 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 Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aswan ran out of time with Al Ahly. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Aswan asked and Wadi Degla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aswan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Ittihad moved on, Prince Kwabena Owusu reports back to Aswan, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Aswan will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Aswan asked and Zamalek said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Something was said to Kano and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
128 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aswan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. El Dakhleya tried to reorganise, Aswan did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
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.” Christoph Richter, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
$22.0K settles it between the clubs for Amr Shaaban
El Masry have accepted the money. What Aswan 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. Aswan have done the hard part with Zamalek, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
El Dakhleya next, and one man in the Aswan dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Aswan would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aswan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutOmar Zaki left out for tactical reasons at Aswan
Player ratingsAhmed Khaled changes it off the bench
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ittihad waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aswan is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Zamalek for Fortune Bassey 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 shaken hands with Al Ahly; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Petrojet 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.
Seidu Basit 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aswan 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.
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.
Fortune Bassey 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 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 not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Ghazl El Mahalla? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Arab Contractors next, and one man in the Aswan dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmed Khaled trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Something was said to Omar Adly and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutSemo is still paying for one afternoon at Aswan
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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: 18. 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.
Position 15, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Something was said to Ahmed Khaled and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fortune Bassey provided it, and the 9.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fortune Bassey 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Aswan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tarik Aoutah, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Nov 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 1‑2 Christoph Richter left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Aswan told Sayed El Shabrawy something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Military Production in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Christoph Richter chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Fathy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Fortune Bassey will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Aswan escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Position 16 and 8 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
Kano 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.
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.
Cyriaque Sylla 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Seidu Basit 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 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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Ali Fathy falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 95 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.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Seidu Basit is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Christoph Richter after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Looking aheadAswan take on the side everybody is chasing
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fortune Bassey provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Kano 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
7 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 dugout9 Oct 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.” Christoph Richter, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Aswan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout2 Oct 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 Christoph Richter left the room before anybody could ask which.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aswan 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 Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 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.
“I have supported clubs like this one. I know what a bad Saturday feels like here.” The new man starts with nothing behind him and everything in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
Seidu Basit 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.
Aswan asked and ENPPI said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mohamed Tchari has just signed for Aswan, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Fortune Bassey 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.
Aswan asked and Kaizer Chiefs said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Aswan will try again when the window opens; Arab Contractors may not be selling by then.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Aswan, another week without a signature from Nader Hesham.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
6 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.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Arab Contractors had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Aswan did not stop to explain themselves.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Benjamin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aswan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs have shaken hands with Arab Contractors; 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. 15 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aswan have done the hard part with Kaizer Chiefs, 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 16 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aswan have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nader Hesham has just signed for Aswan, and for once the answer mattered.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prince Kwabena Owusu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aswan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
Aswan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Riyadh, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Seidu Basit 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.
$58.0K was the most the club would pay and Police Union 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 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.
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.
1‑7 to ENPPI, 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.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Aswan and ENPPI, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aswan have lost him in all but the paperwork.
At 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Aswan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aswan asked and SC Freiburg 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aswan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
Aswan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Ettifaq, 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 Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al Gaish waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aswan is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Sergio Sardinha is living that version at Aswan, and it tends to show in the first month.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aswan have done the hard part with Wadi Degla, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Seidu Basit 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.
Aswan asked and ENPPI said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aswan offered $13.0K; Arab Contractors 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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Body has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Aswan have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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.
Aswan asked and Al-Riyadh said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Momen Samir
Fortune Bassey 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.
Aswan asked and Wadi Degla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Aswan 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Seidu Basit signs something — a contract at Aswan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ali Salah has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aswan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Seidu Basit 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.
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.
“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 Aswan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Seidu Basit 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey 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 Abdelaziz Mousa is on 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 Aswan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aswan have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Aswan, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aswan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Aswan have gone to Ghazl El Mahalla 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Platinum Stars is saying, and nobody at Aswan is enjoying the guessing.
Fortune Bassey 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aswan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aswan have done the hard part with ENPPI, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Abdelaziz Mousa has agreed terms with Ismaily for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Aswan 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Aswan will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Momen Samir
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aswan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Seidu Basit 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.
$64.0K on the table at Police Union. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hasaacas have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Omar Zaki 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aswan can pretend not to have heard.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Aswan 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Aswan 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bright Adjei trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bright Adjei trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Aswan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Benjamin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aswan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Omar Zaki is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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 Aswan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Themba Kekana is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mostafa Disha 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. Omar Zaki 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 Abdelaziz Mousa is on it.
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 Aswan would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aswan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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 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 Karim Mostafa is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aswan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fortune Bassey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Prince Kwabena Owusu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aswan has been clear about where Juhayna stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Seidu Basit signs something — a contract at Aswan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 33 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Benjamin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aswan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Seidu Basit 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 had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
0‑1 to Petrojet, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Apr 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 Ali Salah left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ahmed Hamoudi has his answer from Aswan; 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.
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.
Seidu Basit 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.81 — 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.
Fortune Bassey 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.
“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.
The dugout27 Mar 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Ali Salah to a room that had heard them before.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Aswan have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Wadi Degla had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It needed Seidu Basit to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Wadi Degla, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Ahmed Ibrahim is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aswan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Seidu Basit 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ali Salah after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
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.
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 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout6 Mar 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ali Salah to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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 Fortune Bassey 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 Aswan has been clear about where Prince Kwabena Owusu stands, which is more than many ever get.
Marked 7.86. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout28 Feb 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.” Ali Salah kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 dugoutKarim Mostafa dropped after a run of poor form
0‑6 to Zamalek, 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.
Seidu Basit and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Feb 2028
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Aswan and Zamalek in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Aswan pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aswan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Wa All Stars is saying, and nobody at Aswan is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan 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. Siah Jamegan have kept their man, and Aswan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Aswan ran out of time with Ismaily. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Aswan are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Aswan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Omar Adly has, at Aswan, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The clubs have shaken hands with Ismaily; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Aswan close the window on a squad of their own making
1 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.
Everything agreed with Wa All Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ta'ee keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The phone has started ringing about David Benjamin again, and this time the name on the line is El Masry. Aswan are listening politely and promising nothing.
Seidu Basit was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadFortune Bassey falls out with a teammate over standards
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Fortune Bassey scored in the 88th minute, Masr El Makasa had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Aswan took the lot.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The offer from El Masry for David Benjamin was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aswan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aswan have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Aswan, and it is not being withdrawn.