The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 21 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.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Vinicius Mello was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abderrahmane Belkebla after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.04 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
1 for Hadji Chekal, marked 7.94, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. CS Constantine will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
8 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
ES Ben Aknoun will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CS Constantine were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.21 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 118 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.70 for the rest of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anis Elhadj Benchouya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Nassim L'Ghoul was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine 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.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Cyril Boukhit will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Djihad Bizimana 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bilal Boukerchaoui 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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It is 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.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A 2‑1 win over USM Alger, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Vinicius Mello was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.77. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Djihad Bizimana 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 6.96 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Islam Atal and CS Constantine agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Abderrahmane Belkebla to a room that had heard them before.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nassim L'Ghoul 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.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Nassim L'Ghoul 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. Platinum Stars have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dadi Mouaki. 2‑1 against MB Rouissat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and MB Rouissat waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.91, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
CS Constantine close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 11 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 64 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nassim L'Ghoul is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The name of Abdelhak Benayada has come up in conversations CS Constantine were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chamseddine Rahmani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and JS Saoura waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
$170.0K on the table at MC Oran. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
The dugoutNassim L'Ghoul has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutCyril Boukhit asks for a word with the manager
BoardroomThe CS Constantine production line keeps running
The words a physio says slowly. 78 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CS Constantine have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
CS Constantine asked and Hasaacas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
A loan enquiry to Platinum Stars: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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. 85 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Benaissa Fettouche is living that version at CS Constantine, and it tends to show in the first month.
Add another name to the list: JS Saoura have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anis Elhadj Benchouya. The answer from CS Constantine has not changed — yet.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CS Constantine, another week without a signature from Chamseddine Rahmani.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anis Elhadj Benchouya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have shaken hands with MC Oran; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
CS Constantine asked and MC El Bayadh said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine 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. CS Constantine have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Oran have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nassim L'Ghoul 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.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CS Constantine people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$250.0K was the most the club would pay and MC Oran were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer went to MC Oran this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
127 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Nassim L'Ghoul 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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
134 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around CS Constantine people have started saying his name in the past tense.
CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Djihad Bizimana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 141 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from USM Alger for Vinicius Mello 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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hatem Grine will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahmoud Labib 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.
CS Constantine 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: MC El Bayadh will make the call about Cyril Boukhit this week. CS Constantine have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
148 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine 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.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine can pretend not to have heard.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nassim L'Ghoul is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CS Constantine, another week without a signature from Habib Sylla.
SuperSport United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Oussama Bouguerri 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.
155 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine 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.” CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oussama Bouguerri and CS Constantine agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habib Sylla 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Messala Merbah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CS Constantine. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CS Constantine they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nassim L'Ghoul 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 CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Habib Sylla trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Habib Sylla 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 CS Constantine, another week without a signature from Habib Sylla.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Habib Sylla trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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 club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Chamseddine Rahmani has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Constantine, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Hamid Djaouchi’s negotiating for him
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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 Dadi Mouaki is on it.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee CS Constantine could ask drops and the wages Habib Sylla can ask rise.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine 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.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hatem Grine will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Habib Sylla 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.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Tosin Omoyele is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Constantine, and both men came out saying it was fine.
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 8 on 41 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Habib Sylla 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Abderrahmane Belkebla after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hatem Grine will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Djihad Bizimana 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abderrahmane Belkebla after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nassim L'Ghoul and CS Constantine agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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 Chamseddine Rahmani.
The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CS Constantine has been clear about where Sid Ahmed Maatellah stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The words a physio says slowly. 137 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 CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
144 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
ES Ben Aknoun will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CS Constantine were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.91 for the rest of it.
10 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 151 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Deportivo Tachira is saying, and nobody at CS Constantine is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. USM Alger have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ES Mostaganem waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Toufik Moussaoui has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means CS Constantine have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habib Sylla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
CS Constantine have made the call to USM Alger. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marco Anthônio and CS Constantine agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
11 goals in one match, Vinicius Mello on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of CS Constantine and USM Alger.
JS Kabylie go through and CS Constantine go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Vinicius Mello scored in the 86th minute, ASO Chlef had already begun thinking about the journey home, and CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vinicius Mello. 2‑1 against ASO Chlef, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Haythem Atbi is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. CS Constantine will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Nassim L'Ghoul was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CS Constantine has been clear about where Oussama Meddahi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about CS Constantine and MB Rouissat in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Vinicius Mello was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.56. 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Getting past Zakaria Bouhalfaya has become the hardest job in the division
8 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Habib Sylla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 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.
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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
SquadGetting past Zakaria Bouhalfaya has become the hardest job in the division
“The easiest signature of my career.” Messala Merbah and CS Constantine agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Haythem Atbi
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Haythem Atbi has come out of that comparison in the side, and CS Constantine have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against MC Alger? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Anis Mahdi Mendil’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and CS Constantine needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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 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.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Hamid Djaouchi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and CS Constantine needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Habib Sylla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Abderrahmane Belkebla on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7.98, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. CS Constantine had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Habib Sylla
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Habib Sylla has come out of that comparison in the side, and CS Constantine have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Abderrahmane Belkebla kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Hatem Grine
7.85, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habib Sylla 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 2‑1 win over ES Ben Aknoun, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Vinicius Mello had CS Constantine level again within 1 minutes, and ES Ben Aknoun never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Abderrahmane Belkebla kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Chances created: 11. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑1 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.
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Abderrahmane Belkebla, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against ES Ben Aknoun in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hadji Chekal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.” Riyad Ghoulam and CS Constantine agree another 3 years.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mélo N'Diaye has his answer from CS Constantine; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Abderrahmane Belkebla could afford to be generous.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Haythem Atbi did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Habib Sylla 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.
He is 21 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and CS Constantine know it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Abderrahmane Belkebla after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Haythem Atbi
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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 Bilal Boukerchaoui, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Abderrahmane Belkebla left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mélo N'Diaye is on it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. ASO Chlef had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Habib Sylla 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CS Constantine can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at CS Constantine 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.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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. ES Setif have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
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.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CS Constantine have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
CS Constantine close the window on a squad of their own making
10 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.
CS Constantine moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Abderrahmane Belkebla, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CS Constantine have done the hard part with Nueva Chicago, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
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.
CS Constantine asked and ASO Chlef said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything agreed with Real Bamako, 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rayan Jerbi is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Habib Sylla 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Malien have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at CS Constantine 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.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Islam Bakir has improved at 32, 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.
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.
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 words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
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.
Djihad Bizimana 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. Al-Hilal have kept their man, and CS Constantine 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CS Constantine, another week without a signature from Hamid Djaouchi.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Djafar Zabaiou is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nueva Chicago have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
CS Constantine and ASO Chlef have settled on $230.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deal with Stade Malien is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CS Constantine know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 clubs have shaken hands with MC Oran; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Messala Merbah 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 CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Constantine, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 words a physio says slowly. 83 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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with ASO Chlef, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Jul 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habib Sylla 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sid Ahmed Maatellah has his answer from CS Constantine; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tosin Omoyele trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CS Constantine lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deal with ES Setif is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Hilal keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every 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 Djafar Zabaiou is on it.
In brief
The dugoutTosin Omoyele knocks on the manager’s door
“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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ikorodu City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The captaincy has been taken off Djihad Bizimana. CS Constantine will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CS Constantine have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Habib Sylla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ikorodu City have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CS Constantine is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ibrahim Sangaré 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.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Add another name to the list: Enyimba have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anis Mahdi Mendil. The answer from CS Constantine has not changed — yet.
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 clubs have shaken hands with ASO Chlef; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
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.
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 Djafar Zabaiou is on 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 CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habib Sylla 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. Hasaacas have kept their man, and CS Constantine 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Cyril Boukhit is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nassim Belkebla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around CS Constantine the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nassim Belkebla trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CS Constantine. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Djihad Bizimana 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 long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and CS Constantine know now that the thought has arrived.
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 Dadi Mouaki is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Constantine, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cyril Boukhit has written the date down.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 May 2028
Habib Sylla falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at CS Constantine can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Messala Merbah and CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine 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.
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 Islam Bakir is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Constantine, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine 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.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at CS Constantine has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at CS Constantine than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mahmoud Labib trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Habib Sylla falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CS Constantine, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah 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 Themba Grobler is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cyril Boukhit has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutDjafar Zabaiou asks for a word with the manager
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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.
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 Islam Bakir is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CS Constantine know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutHadji Chekal knocks on the manager's door
Djihad Bizimana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habib Sylla 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Hamid Djaouchi 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.
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 Nassim L'Ghoul is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Massy Si Youcef has his answer from CS Constantine; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 37, with 324 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CS Constantine. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
BoardroomThe CS Constantine production line keeps running
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 46 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Themba Grobler provided it, and the 8.85 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Djafar Zabaiou 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. MC Oran tried to reorganise, CS Constantine did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine can pretend not to have heard.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout20 Mar 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 Abderrahmane Belkebla left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Miloud Rebiaï.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MC Oran in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Habib Sylla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; CS Constantine are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abderrahmane Belkebla after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at CS Constantine will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MC Alger in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CS Constantine know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Tosin Omoyele
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Islam Bakir and CS Constantine agree another 3 years.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Themba Grobler. 1‑0 against Paradou, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Abderrahmane Belkebla could afford to be generous.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.36 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Djihad Bizimana was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadDefences have started doubling up on Themba Grobler
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CS Constantine 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 Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have shaken hands with MC Oran; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at CS Constantine 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CS Constantine asked and CR Belouizdad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 22 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Themba Grobler provided it, and the 8.78 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. CS Constantine have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Djihad Bizimana 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 Habib Sylla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CS Constantine will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at CS Constantine, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CS Constantine have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Djihad Bizimana 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; CS Constantine are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CS Constantine 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 CS Constantine this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at CS Constantine training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messala Merbah 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. MC Alger have kept their man, and CS Constantine go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CS Constantine will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
ASO Chlef have accepted the money. What CS Constantine do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ibrahim El Khalil Sebih has, at CS Constantine, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
CS Constantine asked and Maritzburg 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with CR Belouizdad the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that CS Constantine will enjoy reviewing.
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. CS Constantine will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Messala Merbah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.