A mark of 8.25 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 16-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.78 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Frédéric Djoeta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 16 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
CotonTchad will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Elect Sport were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
5 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 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.
Yannick Ndilabaye and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Frédéric Djoita. 1‑0 against Foullah Edifice, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdramane Hissein and Elect Sport agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Saleh Adoum could afford to be generous.
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 Moral Djimhotoum is on it.
Ahmat Doungous, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31
A mark of 8.31 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elect Sport the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Frédéric Djoeta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Ahmat Doungous 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 an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.63 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
8.06. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdoulaye Tokindang 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.
Marked 8.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdoulaye Tokindang and Elect Sport agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Elect Sport know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
They sit in position 8 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Renaissance had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ali Adoum has come out of that comparison in the side, and Elect Sport have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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 Abakar Haroun Mahamat is on it.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Saleh Adoum chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
SquadThe division's best last weekend was a Elect Sport man
AS DGSSIE will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Elect Sport were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
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.
At 18 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mahamat Harouna was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
The division's best last weekend was a Elect Sport man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Yannick Ndilabaye was the best thing in any of them.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Elect Sport lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yannick Ndilabaye provided it, and the 9.06 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 7.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 16-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Frédéric Djoita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
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 Moral Djimhotoum is on it.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Elect Sport lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 16-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yannick Ndilabaye and Elect Sport agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Elect Sport
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
At 16 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport 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.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Elect Sport know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Frédéric Djoeta 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. Gazelle have kept their man, and Elect Sport go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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. Elect Sport know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elect Sport people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Elect Sport close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport 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. Foullah Edifice have kept their man, and Elect Sport go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marius Moustapha has his answer from Elect Sport; 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport 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. Gazelle have kept their man, and Elect Sport 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.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Renaissance, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Elect Sport asked and Renaissance 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 Frédéric Djoita is on it.
He is 16, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The offer from AS Algoy for Narcisse Abakar 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Frédéric Djoeta 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. Renaissance have kept their man, and Elect Sport go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Elect Sport have made the call to Renaissance. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The deal with CotonTchad 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.
Frédéric Djoeta 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 name of Narcisse Abakar has come up in conversations Elect Sport were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moral Djimhotoum signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Aiglons moved on, Goukouni Abakar reports back to Elect Sport, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Elect Sport asked and Gazelle said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Foullah Edifice: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 deal with Foullah Edifice 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gazelle have kept their man, and Elect Sport go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Elect Sport have made the call to CotonTchad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Frédéric Djoita is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
He is 16, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Elect Sport did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
The deal with Renaissance 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 have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Foullah Edifice, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mahamat Harouna and Elect Sport agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
Add another name to the list: CotonTchad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adam Souleymane. The answer from Elect Sport has not changed — yet.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Out, 0‑1 to Foullah Edifice, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Elect Sport have had the benefit of it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mahamat Harouna and Elect Sport agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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 phone has started ringing about Hassan Tokindang again, and this time the name on the line is AS Algoy. Elect Sport are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 3, 52 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Frédéric Djoeta 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 name of Ezechiel Mbaiguedem has come up in conversations Elect Sport were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Goukouni Abakar reports back to Elect Sport with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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. Elect Sport know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Oumar Moustapha has his answer from Elect Sport; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Ahmat Doungous was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
An average of 7.01 in a first team he is several years too young for. Elect Sport have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Moral Djimhotoum is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Abakar Haroun Mahamat 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 Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
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 Mahamat Harouna is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ferdinand Gassina signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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.
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Elect Sport know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Position 3, 52 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elect Sport have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The hardest thing about being 15 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Brahim Souleymane did not need any: 7.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport 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.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ferdinand Gassina signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
9.15. 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Marius Hissein 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.
Gazelle will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Elect Sport were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yannick Ndilabaye provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
He is 15, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Position 3, 49 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Moral Djimhotoum is on it.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Saleh Adoum chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
12 matches without defeat, and then Foullah Edifice. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 7.82. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout12 Mar 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 Saleh Adoum to a room that had heard them before.
Boardroom12 Mar 2029
92% of the income goes out in wages at Elect Sport
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abakar Haroun Mahamat provided it, and the 9.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 8.10 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Frédéric Djoeta commits to Elect Sport for another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Elect Sport lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Goukouni Abakar provided it, and the 9.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Position 3, 42 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Elect Sport have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
Mahamat Harouna 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Elect Sport 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.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Elect Sport lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Elect Sport 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Elect Sport, another week without a signature from Brahim Souleymane.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brahim Souleymane trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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 deal that would have taken Goukouni Abakar to Aiglons has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Elect Sport with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Elect Sport did not have in the autumn.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Elect Sport close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hassan Tokindang will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elect Sport the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Frédéric Djoeta 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 ratings5 Feb 2029
Frédéric Djoita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The hardest thing about being 15 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Brahim Souleymane did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 15 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Goukouni Abakar provided it, and the 9.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS Algoy waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ezechiel Mbaiguedem did not need any: 8.17, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Frédéric Djoeta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Tokindang 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 words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elect Sport people have started saying his name in the past tense.
4 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Elect Sport and Stars Jeunes Talents in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsGoukouni Abakar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Elect Sport lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Marius Hissein, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.46
A mark of 8.46 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Elect Sport have had the benefit of it.
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.
Mahamat Harouna and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The words a physio says slowly. 86 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. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Elect Sport.
The dugout25 Dec 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.” Saleh Adoum kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Elect Sport lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Mahamat Harouna 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 Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Elect Sport 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. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mahamat Harouna and Elect Sport agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Minute 85, against Aiglons, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 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. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abakar Haroun Mahamat provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 8.44 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Elect Sport lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.31 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mahamat Harouna. 1‑0 against AS Algoy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Gérard Nodjiram trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Goukouni Abakar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elect Sport the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A mark of 8.23 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mahamat Tchari will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elect Sport the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
AS PSI held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Elect Sport answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against AS PSI; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
4 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.
9.36. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Frédéric Djoita in the middle of it, and Stars Jeunes Talents unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
8.38. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Elect Sport moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Saleh Adoum, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Elect Sport
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mahamat Adoum has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Saleh Moustapha has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 113 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Frédéric Djoita commits to Elect Sport for another 4 years.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adoum Defallah signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 134 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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 55 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hassan Tokindang will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elect Sport the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Frédéric Djoeta signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Elect Sport that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Elect Sport 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. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Elect Sport will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS DGSSIE waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Elect Sport is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Frédéric Djoeta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ferdinand Gassina signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adam Souleymane and Elect Sport agree another 3 years.
Ahmat Doungous was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
$7.0K on the table at CotonTchad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Mahamat Harouna 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 Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Hassan Tokindang again, and this time the name on the line is AS Algoy. Elect Sport are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Elect Sport they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Frédéric Djoeta 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 easiest signature of my career.” Marius Moustapha and Elect Sport agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahamat Harouna signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The bid was some way short and Elect Sport did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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.
Ezechiel Mbaiguedem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ferdinand Gassina signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Mahamat Harouna plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Elect Sport people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$5.0K on the table at CotonTchad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Elect Sport asked and CotonTchad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The phone has started ringing about Brahim Mbaiguedem again, and this time the name on the line is US Moursal. Elect Sport are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 Mahamat Harouna is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adoum Defallah signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 55 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: AS DGSSIE will make the call about Mahamat Tchari this week. Elect Sport have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ezechiel Hissein and Elect Sport agree another 3 years.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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 Goukouni Abakar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Elect Sport had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The one award on the pitch nobody else can win. 15 games in a season in which nobody scored past him, and a career that will be measured against this one.
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.
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
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 Goukouni Abakar is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahamat Harouna signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hassan Tokindang will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elect Sport the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$5.0K on the table at CotonTchad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ferdinand Gassina signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Mahamat Harouna was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CotonTchad have kept their man, and Elect Sport go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 55 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The offer from AS DGSSIE for Mahamat Tchari 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.
$5.0K on the table at CotonTchad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The 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.
“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 Elect Sport, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Ezechiel Mbaiguedem 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abakar Haroun Mahamat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahamat Harouna signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
Frédéric Djoeta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ferdinand Gassina signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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.
Abdramane Hissein was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Elect Sport, 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 Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
Position 3 and 55 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Frédéric Djoita is on it.
Frédéric Djoeta 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.
Nobody at Elect Sport will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahamat Harouna signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
5 goals in 21 games at Aiglons — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Elect Sport updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Moustapha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Adoum Defallah has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Elect Sport 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 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ezechiel Mbaiguedem and Elect Sport agree another 3 years.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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 Elect Sport, 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 Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
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 Frédéric Djoita is on it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Moral Djimhotoum and Elect Sport agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Elect Sport training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ferdinand Gassina 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 Goukouni Abakar is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahamat Harouna signs something — a contract at Elect Sport or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Moussa Raimadji has come out of that comparison in the side, and Elect Sport have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Nobody at Elect Sport 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.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Moussa Raimadji. 2‑0 against US Moursal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A performance of 8.37 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout27 Mar 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.” Saleh Adoum, on a 2‑0 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.
Mahamat Harouna 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abakar Haroun Mahamat. 1‑0 against Gazelle, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Saleh Adoum could afford to be generous.
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 Frédéric Djoita is on it.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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 Goukouni Abakar is on it.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.24 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Frédéric Djoeta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mahamat Harouna. 3‑1 against Foullah Edifice, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Elect Sport can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.57 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
Aiglons made Elect Sport work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Goukouni Abakar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.60. 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Adam Moustapha 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 Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It needed Goukouni Abakar to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against AS Etat Major, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 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.
Frédéric Djoeta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oumar Moustapha and Elect Sport agree another 3 years.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mahamat Harouna. 1‑0 against AS Algoy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Elect Sport close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 0 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferdinand Gassina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Elect Sport this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Yannick Ndilabaye has come out of that comparison in the side, and Elect Sport have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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 Moral Djimhotoum 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 Elect Sport, and both men came out saying it was fine.