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.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CR Belouizdad has been clear about where Aymen Bendaoud stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hamed Abdallah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CR Belouizdad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CR Belouizdad can tell you which week it ends in.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Naoufel Khacef 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 Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CR Belouizdad, another week without a signature from Abderrahim Hamra.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Adel Slimani after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Nobody at CR Belouizdad will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Houcine Benayada
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation CR Belouizdad did not have in the autumn.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ismail Slimani and CR Belouizdad agree another 3 years.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
CR Belouizdad close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 13 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.
CR Belouizdad moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Adel Slimani, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at CR Belouizdad
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mokhtar Ferrahi and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hillal Bennacer has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Abdelhak Djabou has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Hamed Abdallah has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Naoufel Khacef 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 Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Zamalek: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad27 Aug 2029
5 new faces, and CR Belouizdad are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
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 Houcine Benayada is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Teddy Okou has improved at 31, 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.
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. Zamalek have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for CR Belouizdad
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything agreed with Djoliba, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Wahda have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CR Belouizdad, another week without a signature from Salim Boukhanchouche.
In brief
The dugoutLofti Boussouar has become a man the manager trusts
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CR Belouizdad have done the hard part with Zamalek, 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 CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cabral Camará has just signed for CR Belouizdad, and for once the answer mattered.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum and CR Belouizdad agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CR Belouizdad, another week without a signature from Abderrahim Hamra.
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teddy Okou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Naoufel Khacef 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 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Everyone has stopped pretending: ES Mostaganem will make the call about Franck Etouga this week. CR Belouizdad have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CR Belouizdad 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 CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Franck Etouga again, and this time the name on the line is ES Mostaganem. CR Belouizdad are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CR Belouizdad people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Moustapha Zeghba and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. CR Belouizdad will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Moustapha Zeghba and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The one award nobody else on the pitch can win goes to Moustapha Zeghba, on 25 clean sheets across the season. Keepers wait a career for a season like it.
CR Belouizdad have made the call to Al Ahly. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Issam Yazid has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. CR Belouizdad will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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 Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is on it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ES Setif waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CR Belouizdad has been clear about where Younes Ouassa stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulaziz Dalhatu 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 Lofti Boussouar is on 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CR Belouizdad 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 CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Everyone has stopped pretending: ES Setif will make the call about Younes Ouassa this week. CR Belouizdad have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Farid El Melali and CR Belouizdad agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Teddy Okou falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Houssem Bayoud has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means CR Belouizdad have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CR Belouizdad, another week without a signature from Salim Boukhanchouche.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Naoufel Khacef and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teddy Okou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Farid El Melali signs something — a contract at CR Belouizdad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CR Belouizdad. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee CR Belouizdad could ask drops and the wages Franck Etouga can ask rise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teddy Okou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CR Belouizdad. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teddy Okou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Naoufel Khacef and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 Younes Ouassa is on 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad 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 CR Belouizdad 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 Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CR Belouizdad has been clear about where Mohamed Slimi stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Farid El Melali signs something — a contract at CR Belouizdad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for CR Belouizdad
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 79 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 54 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A 3‑1 win over Olympique Akbou, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at CR Belouizdad pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mouad Redjem has just signed for CR Belouizdad, and for once the answer mattered.
Mouad Redjem damages knee ligaments — 110 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 110 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CR Belouizdad can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 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 Adel Slimani left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Naoufel Khacef 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 Teddy Okou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
USM Alger next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdel Medioub trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad 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 Teddy Okou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Abdel Medioub.
MB Rouissat will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CR Belouizdad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CR Belouizdad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
CR Belouizdad close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 5 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SuperSport United have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Teddy Okou scored in the 85th minute, MC El Bayadh had already begun thinking about the journey home, and CR Belouizdad took the lot.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad 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.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Platinum Stars is saying, and nobody at CR Belouizdad is enjoying the guessing.
CR Belouizdad asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CR Belouizdad will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CR Belouizdad 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 CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. CR Belouizdad will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Naoufel Khacef was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CS Constantine have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Abderrahim Hamra is living that version at CR Belouizdad, and it tends to show in the first month.
Everything agreed with USM Alger, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CR Belouizdad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teddy Okou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. CR Belouizdad had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Teddy Okou falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Naoufel Khacef 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 8.24 — 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Adel Slimani could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Younes Ouassa
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.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. CR Belouizdad scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad 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 CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Khanyisa Mayo. 1‑0 against USM Khenchela, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 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.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem 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.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Farid El Melali was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. 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.
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.
In brief
SquadMehdi Boudjemaa falls out with a teammate over standards
Player ratingsAbdelmalek Kelaleche was on a different afternoon to everybody else
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abderrahmane Meziane and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years.
Naoufel Khacef 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 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at CR Belouizdad.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. CR Belouizdad scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Djaber Kaassis
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CR Belouizdad can tell you which week it ends in.
0‑2 to USM Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Moustapha Zeghba is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CR Belouizdad, another week without a signature from Djaber Kaassis.
The dugout6 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.” Adel Slimani chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CR Belouizdad will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
50 shut-outs in 357 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 Marko Kelemen, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Oct 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.” Adel Slimani chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Ahmed Aït-Abdesslem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdelmalek Kelaleche. 1‑0 against MB Rouissat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. CR Belouizdad told Aymen Bendaoud something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum 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 easiest signature of my career.” Dalil Adel Hassen Khodja and CR Belouizdad agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. USM Khenchela will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teddy Okou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Islam Abbaci has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Teddy Okou
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Abderrahmane Meziane's mistake
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdel Medioub and CR Belouizdad agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teddy Okou 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CR Belouizdad has been clear about where Lofti Boussouar stands, which is more than many ever get.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Fouad Rahmani is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad 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 CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.25. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at CR Belouizdad.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then ES Setif scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Adel Slimani after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The deal that would have taken Khanyisa Mayo to MC Oran has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to CR Belouizdad with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Naoufel Khacef 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 Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. CR Belouizdad will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CR Belouizdad, another week without a signature from Djaber Kaassis.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CR Belouizdad people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CR Belouizdad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at CR Belouizdad 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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Islam Feghouli is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lyes Aoucheta is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Aymen Bendaoud 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. Platinum Stars have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdelmoumen Loudani is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
CR Belouizdad offered $320.0K; USM Alger 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teddy Okou 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.
CR Belouizdad asked and Platinum Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Lofti Boussouar had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
CR Belouizdad offered $610.0K; MC Alger 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.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islam Abbaci will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CR Belouizdad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$610.0K on the table at MC Alger. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
CR Belouizdad have gone to USM Alger 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.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Salim Boukhanchouche is a CR Belouizdad player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The name of Lofti Boussouar has come up in conversations CR Belouizdad were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Naoufel Khacef and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Marko Kelemen has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chouaib Keddad will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CR Belouizdad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
CR Belouizdad had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Platinum Stars, 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 CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 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.
CR Belouizdad have made the call to Hasaacas. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Lofti Boussouar is on it.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
CR Belouizdad asked and SuperSport United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad 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.
CR Belouizdad have made the call to Platinum Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CR Belouizdad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Aymen Bendaoud has just signed for CR Belouizdad, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islam Abbaci will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CR Belouizdad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
CR Belouizdad had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Platinum Stars, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hasaacas have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. CR Belouizdad had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The one award on the pitch nobody else can win. 19 games in a season in which nobody scored past him, and a career that will be measured against this one.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Paradou waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad 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 Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CR Belouizdad have made the call to Spartak Trnava. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
CR Belouizdad have made the call to Hasaacas. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CR Belouizdad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from USM Alger for Younes Ouassa 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.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
CR Belouizdad offered $8.0K; MC Oran said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Güemes have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CR Belouizdad lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CR Belouizdad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Ahly keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Naoufel Khacef 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 words a physio says slowly. 117 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
CR Belouizdad asked and USM Alger said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Khanyisa Mayo again, and this time the name on the line is MC Alger. CR Belouizdad are listening politely and promising nothing.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mohamed Belaribi has just signed for CR Belouizdad, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Mohamed Zaalouk is in the works
The words a physio says slowly. 124 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
Naoufel Khacef 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at CR Belouizdad 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.
138 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CR Belouizdad lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
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 Lofti Boussouar is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abderrahmane Meziane and CR Belouizdad agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Omar Kamel 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ziad Nemer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at CR Belouizdad would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mehdi Boudjemaa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boudjemaa 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 Lofti Boussouar is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CR Belouizdad. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Issam Yazid 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 Chouaib Keddad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Khanyisa Mayo is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Farid El Melali signs something — a contract at CR Belouizdad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5, 56 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Chouaib Keddad’s negotiating for 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 CR Belouizdad 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.
The dugout3 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 Adel Slimani left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Yousri Bouzok
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Yousri Bouzok has come out of that comparison in the side, and CR Belouizdad have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Younes Ouassa has his answer from CR Belouizdad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Naoufel Khacef was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khanyisa Mayo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at CR Belouizdad pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then ES Ben Aknoun scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Olympique Akbou will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CR Belouizdad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kerfala Cissoko provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Naoufel Khacef and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Marked 8.48 — 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.
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: 41. 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with JS Kabylie the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that CR Belouizdad will enjoy reviewing.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khanyisa Mayo 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: 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.
Yousri Bouzok and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I watch every CR Belouizdad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at USM Alger runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khanyisa Mayo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Omar Kamel is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Position 3, 52 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Naoufel Khacef 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 Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum 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 Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum is on it.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and ASO Chlef spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CR Belouizdad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Naoufel Khacef 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: Farid El Melali. 2‑1 against ASO Chlef, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.43 — 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. CR Belouizdad will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
In brief
SquadWords at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Omar Kamel has, at CR Belouizdad, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The offer from MC Alger for Chouaib Keddad 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
CR Belouizdad close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad 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. MC Alger have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CR Belouizdad people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Naoufel Khacef 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: 20. 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.
USM Alger paid $220.0K and CR Belouizdad took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. USM Khenchela have kept their man, and CR Belouizdad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khanyisa Mayo 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CR Belouizdad has been clear about where Khanyisa Mayo stands, which is more than many ever get.
CR Belouizdad asked and Wanderers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
“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.
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 never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
CR Belouizdad asked and MC Oran 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CR Belouizdad have made the call to USM Khenchela. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. CR Belouizdad rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and CS Constantine had no answer to any of it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The offer from USM Alger for Khanyisa Mayo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CR Belouizdad, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at CR Belouizdad, and 4 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lofti Boussouar has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CR Belouizdad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against USM Khenchela, and it could have been more.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
A brace, and Teddy Okou takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Teddy Okou provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.30 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Naoufel Khacef 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Adel Slimani on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Naoufel Khacef 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: 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Olympique Akbou had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Khanyisa Mayo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It needed Kerfala Cissoko to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Olympique Akbou, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Position 2, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CR Belouizdad can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CR Belouizdad is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mehdi Boudjemaa 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at CR Belouizdad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khanyisa Mayo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Adel Slimani after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
20 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. CR Belouizdad scored in the 95th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Naoufel Khacef 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: Kerfala Cissoko. 2‑1 against MC Oran, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohamed Amran has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Mohamed Kerroum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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.” Adel Slimani kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Houcine Benayada
Naoufel Khacef 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: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Kerfala Cissoko was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
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.
“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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The division's best last weekend was a CR Belouizdad man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Farid El Melali was the best thing in any of them.
19 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
ASO Chlef will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CR Belouizdad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Farid El Melali provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CR Belouizdad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
USM Alger next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khanyisa Mayo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.