Djoliba U18

15 Feb 2027
Monday
Process
28 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Djoliba have 4 straight wins of it.

Market

Djoliba turn down AS Police for Seydou Diabaté

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Djoliba make home a hard place to visit

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Makan Samabaly

10 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Kénan Glougbé

At 22 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.

Match

Djoliba see off Real Bamako

Three points for Djoliba, 1‑0 the final word against Real Bamako in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Saliou Guindo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at Djoliba

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sékou Diarra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Djoliba release $231.6K for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

Back issues
27 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Saliou Guindo scores twice — 9.05

Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Vintage Fantamady Diarra — 8.03

At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.03, and nobody on the pitch better.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 1 signed and 6 gone

That is the business done at Djoliba 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.

Market

Djoliba turn down Flora for Raye Cissé

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Djoliba make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Djoliba have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Saliou Guindo

15 goals and a season average of 7.27 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Tempers go at Djoliba

Barou Sanogo 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.

Match

Djoliba make home a hard place to visit

9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Dramane Traoré

Djoliba asked and AS Korofina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

26 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Still nobody has beaten Djoliba

The unbeaten run reaches 18. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Mahamadou Sissoko sold, and an era ends

$390.0K from FC Diarra for Mahamadou Sissoko. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.

Match

Djoliba march on in the cup

AS Police are out and Djoliba go through, 5‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

Djoliba run riot against Onze Createurs

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Lamine Diakité's — 9.47

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.47, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A day Cheïbane Traoré will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Cheïbane Traoré yet — 9.60

At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.60 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Amadou Soumaré turns Levadia down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

The terraces

Djoliba sell a favourite for $390.0K

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mahamadou Sissoko was one of the reasons people came, and $390.0K does not replace that by itself.

In brief

25 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Djoliba

The unbeaten run reaches 16. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Djoliba sell their best player to Onze Createurs

$200.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

Match

Djoliba are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 42 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Fantamady Diarra

19 goals and a season average of 7.52 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Not going: Aly Keïta stays at Djoliba

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Berekum Chelsea had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $200.0K sale of Wilfried Kouassi

He is going to Onze Createurs, the club has $200.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Market

Levadia come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Djoliba did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Words exchanged at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

24 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba run riot against US Bougouba

17‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

5 goals for Saliou Guindo

The match ball belongs to Saliou Guindo, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

15 unbeaten for Djoliba

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 15 matches without defeat is a foundation Djoliba did not have in the autumn.

Squad

A day Fantamady Diarra will not forget

4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

3 goals for Mahamadou Sissoko

The match ball belongs to Mahamadou Sissoko, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

A day Makan Samabaly will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Market

Not going: Mahamadou Sissoko stays at Djoliba

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Onze Createurs had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Terms done: Wilfried Kouassi is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Onze Createurs waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Djoliba is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Player ratings

Zoumana Simpara scores twice — 8.30

Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

In brief

23 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

14 unbeaten for Djoliba

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 14 matches without defeat is a foundation Djoliba did not have in the autumn.

Match

Zoumana Simpara leads the rout of US Bougouni

3‑0, and Zoumana Simpara took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Djoliba tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Mahamadou Sissoko hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Djoliba can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Vintage Fantamady Diarra — 8.47

At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.47, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Djoliba had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.48 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Afrique Foot Elite come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Djoliba did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Makan Samabaly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djoliba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

22 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Whatever happens, Djoliba do not lose

13 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Player ratings

Aboubacar Sidibé, 21, steals the show — 7.72

Marked 7.72 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

The dugout

Boua Kane: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Djoliba have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

After 8 games, Djoliba finally taste it again

The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Stade Malien; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.

The dugout

news_h_reunited_with_his_manager

news_b_reunited_with_his_manager

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Mahamadou Sissoko

7 goals and a season average of 7.43 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Saliou Guindo was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

A falling-out at Djoliba

Oumar Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

Wages eat 116% of everything Djoliba earn

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.

In brief

  • Match Halfway: Djoliba sit in position 1
  • Squad Words at Djoliba training over how hard people work
  • The dugout A promise honoured for Saliou Guindo
21 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nobody wants to play Djoliba right now

8 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.

Match

Djoliba run riot against US Forces Armees

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Match

Nobody above Djoliba

First, on 34 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

Player ratings

Vintage Fantamady Diarra — 8.54

At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.54, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra is carrying Djoliba

14 goals and a season average of 7.44. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.75. 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 dugout

Lamine Diakité gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Looking ahead

The big one: Stade Malien come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Djoliba will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Saliou Guindo at his very best

Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Djoliba.

In brief

20 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba tear AS Korofina apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑0 against AS Korofina, and it could have been more.

Match

Nobody wants to play Djoliba right now

7 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.

Squad

3 goals for Fantamady Diarra

The match ball belongs to Fantamady Diarra, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Player ratings

A brace, and Makan Samabaly takes the afternoon — 8.35

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Makan Samabaly provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Fantamady Diarra yet — 8.44

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.44 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Fantamady Diarra

13 goals and a season average of 7.39 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Barou Sanogo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djoliba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Fantamady Diarra among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Fantamady Diarra on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Djoliba and AS Korofina.

Match

Another one collected away from home

4 on the bounce on the road for Djoliba. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

In brief

19 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Djoliba

Binga will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Djoliba were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko scores twice — 8.61

Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

Djoliba cannot stop winning

6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra, 34, rolls back the years — 8.52

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.52 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Makan Samabaly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djoliba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.35 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Makan Samabaly

Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Zoumana Simpara was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.27. 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.

Squad

Words at Djoliba training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sékou Diarra 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.

In brief

  • The dugout Somebody else is better right now than Lamine Diakité
  • Squad Mady Dembélé makes the team of the month
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
18 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba tear Afrique Foot Elite apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Afrique Foot Elite, and it could have been more.

Match

Djoliba cannot stop winning

5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Fantamady Diarra yet — 8.52

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.52 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

A falling-out at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Mahamadou Sissoko

Marked 8.72 — 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.

Match

Djoliba are at home on the road

3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.

The dugout

No hiding place for Saliou Guindo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saliou Guindo, and the manager let it.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra is carrying Djoliba

9 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Zoumana Simpara

Marked 8.20 — 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.

In brief

  • Player ratings Ninety minutes of Makan Samabaly at his very best
  • Boardroom 108% of the income goes out in wages at Djoliba
  • Squad A row about effort at Djoliba
17 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba run riot against AS Police

4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Match

Djoliba are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 22 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Player ratings

Both of them Fantamady Diarra's — 8.51

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Nobody wants to play Djoliba right now

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko in the eights

A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Makan Samabaly at his very best

Marked 8.34. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Djoliba.

Player ratings

Zoumana Simpara was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.13. 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Fantamady Diarra

8 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

In brief

16 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Djoliba

FC Diarra will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Djoliba were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

Saliou Guindo takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.41

A mark of 8.41 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Fantamady Diarra yet — 8.54

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.54 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Bakary Kouma puts it in writing

“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 Djoliba, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Nobody wants to play Djoliba right now

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Saliou Guindo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Mahamadou Sissoko

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.

In brief

15 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Vintage Fantamady Diarra — 7.87

At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.87, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

At 21, Mahamadou Sissoko is already the best thing here

An average of 7.05 in a first team he is several years too young for. Djoliba have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Match

6 unbeaten for Djoliba

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Djoliba did not have in the autumn.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lamine Diakité

“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.

Match

Djoliba see off Real Bamako

Three points for Djoliba, 1‑0 the final word against Real Bamako in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Zoumana Simpara at his very best

Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Djoliba.

Squad

Oumar Coulibaly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djoliba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Djoliba training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Méry Camara 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 dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Saliou Guindo

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

14 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Djoliba

AS Bakaridjan will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Djoliba were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

Vintage Fantamady Diarra — 8.42

At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.42, and nobody on the pitch better.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko, 21, steals the show — 7.72

Marked 7.72 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Zoumana Simpara 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Makan Samabaly at his very best

Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Djoliba.

Squad

Mahamadou Sissoko is the month’s best young player

At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Djoliba will try not to make too much of it.

Squad

A falling-out at Djoliba

Oumar Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Charles Traoré needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Djoliba know which stage they are at.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 108% of the Djoliba income

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.

In brief

13 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Djoliba

Barou Sanogo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Djoliba training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Méry Camara 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 dugout

Djoliba pick somebody else ahead of Saliou Guindo

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.

The dugout

Hamari Tamboura: “We have to be better”

“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.

Match

No goals between Djoliba and Onze Createurs

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Onze Createurs will be the happier side with the point.

Market

The Lamine Diakité talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Djoliba know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Makan Samabaly

Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Boulkassoum Diarra does not fit this one

Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.

Squad

Zoumana Simpara speaks, and the room listens

“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Djoliba was different afterwards.

In brief

12 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba run riot against Etoiles du Mande

6‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Saliou Guindo's — 9.14

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.14, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

A brace, and Mahamadou Sissoko takes the afternoon — 8.67

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mahamadou Sissoko provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

A brace, and Fantamady Diarra takes the afternoon — 8.41

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fantamady Diarra provided it, and the 8.41 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout

Méry Camara keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Djoliba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Bakary Kouma puts it in writing

“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 Djoliba, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Nobody wants to play Djoliba right now

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.

Squad

Real improvement from Oumar Coulibaly at Djoliba

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Oumar Coulibaly is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Tempers go at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly 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

11 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Seydou Diabaté leads the rout of US Bougouba

4‑0, and Seydou Diabaté took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Djoliba tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Seydou Diabaté scores twice — 9.08

Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Zoumana Simpara scores twice — 8.15

Two goals and a mark of 8.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Mahamadou Sissoko, 21, steals the show — 8.58

Marked 8.58 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra, 34, rolls back the years — 8.04

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Real improvement from Aly Keïta at Djoliba

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aly Keïta is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Makan Samabaly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djoliba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A late step up for Barou Sanogo

At 32 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.

Squad

8 new faces, and Djoliba are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

In brief

10 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Djoliba tear US Bougouni apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against US Bougouni, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Both of them Fantamady Diarra's — 8.30

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.30, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Mahamadou Sissoko at 21 — 8.42

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mahamadou Sissoko did not need any: 8.42, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

The step up is real for Amadou Soumaré

At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A falling-out at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Méry Camara has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The terraces

One of their own: Mahamadou Sissoko

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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 126% of everything Djoliba earn

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.

Squad

Méry Camara 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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The step up is real for Mahamadou Sissoko

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Words exchanged at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly 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.

Squad

A late step up for Saliou Guindo

At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

In brief

8 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Bakary Kouma hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Djoliba can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Real improvement from Oumar Coulibaly at Djoliba

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Oumar Coulibaly is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Zoumana Simpara has improved at 28, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

In brief

7 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Not going: Seydou Diabaté stays at Djoliba

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Flora had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Seydou Diabaté puts it in writing

“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 Djoliba, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Djoliba count the cost of losing Lamine Diakité

27 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Real improvement from Boulkassoum Diarra at Djoliba

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Boulkassoum Diarra is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A late step up for Barou Sanogo

At 32 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Djoliba

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Méry Camara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

6 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Not going: Amadou Soumaré stays at Djoliba

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Levadia had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Boua Kane asks to leave Djoliba

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 20 in, 4 out at Djoliba

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 20 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Market

AS Bakaridjan come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Djoliba did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Words exchanged at Djoliba

Barou Sanogo 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Djoliba

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Méry Camara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

8 new faces, and Djoliba are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Squad

Kénan Glougbé is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kénan Glougbé 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.

Market

Mahamadou Sissoko placed on the list

Djoliba have made Mahamadou Sissoko available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

5 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Kénan Glougbé turns Flora down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Market

Aboubacar Sidibé puts it in writing

“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 Djoliba, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Djoliba turn down AS Bakaridjan for Mahamadou Sissoko

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

In brief

4 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Nouhan Condé asks to leave Djoliba

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Djoliba turn down US Bougouba for Aboubacar Sidibé

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

No deal for Youssou Coulibaly at that price

Djoliba offered $670.0K; Stade Malien said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Tempers go at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly 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.

Transfer targets

Djoliba rebuffed over Moro Traoré

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Malien have kept their man, and Djoliba go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

The Kénan Glougbé conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Flora will make the call about Kénan Glougbé this week. Djoliba have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

A row about effort at Djoliba

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sékou Diarra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

No place for Mahamadou Sissoko in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mahamadou Sissoko has his answer from Djoliba; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Squad

Méry Camara needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Djoliba know which stage they are at.

In brief

3 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Djoliba lose Lamine Diakité

56 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

Djoliba say no — this time

The offer from Flora for Amadou Soumaré 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.

Transfer targets

Djoliba bid $670.0K for Youssou Coulibaly

The offer went to Stade Malien 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.

Market

Flora join the queue for Kénan Glougbé

Add another name to the list: Flora have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kénan Glougbé. The answer from Djoliba has not changed — yet.

Squad

Makan Samabaly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djoliba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Stade Malien tell Djoliba: Youssou Coulibaly is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Djoliba know which stage they are at.

Market

Talks stall between Djoliba and Zoumana Simpara

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

Sékou Diarra 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.

In brief

2 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Bakary Kouma asks to leave Djoliba

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

US Forces Armees come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Djoliba did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Words exchanged at Djoliba

Makan Samabaly 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Nankoma Keïta

Djoliba asked and Stade Malien said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Amadou Soumaré attracts admirers

The name of Amadou Soumaré has come up in conversations Djoliba were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

One of our own: Lassana Toure joins the Djoliba first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lassana Toure is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

1 Edition

The Djoliba Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Djoliba say no — this time

The offer from Etoiles du Mande for Mahamadou Sissoko 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.

Squad

Kénan Glougbé stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Kénan Glougbé and Djoliba agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Stade Malien tell Djoliba: Idrissa Diarra is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Lamine Diakité needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Djoliba know which stage they are at.

Market

Talks stall between Djoliba and Lamine Diakité

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

A falling-out at Djoliba

Oumar Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief