“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ES Ben Aknoun have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Abdeljalil Saâd 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 Housseyn Selmi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mohamed Benchaira’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ES Ben Aknoun needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Yanis Bentchakal is on it.
1‑4 to MC Alger, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdelkader Tamimi and ES Ben Aknoun agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.86, and 2 involvements.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between ES Ben Aknoun and ES Setif, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at ES Ben Aknoun.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Abdelhak Mahrez to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugoutBadis Bouamama asks for a word with the manager
13Edition
The ES Ben Aknoun Gazette
26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Abdelkrim Oukali 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 will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Abdelhak Mahrez was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the ES Ben Aknoun dressing room was either.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Akram Djahnit’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ES Ben Aknoun needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutAziz Benabdi knocks on the manager's door
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. ES Ben Aknoun scored in the 121th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Diaa Eddine Mechid 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for ES Ben Aknoun is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kheireddine Boussouf’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ES Ben Aknoun needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Nassim Yattou has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yanis Bentchakal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun 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.
USM Khenchela left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Abdelhak Mahrez left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Diaa Eddine Mechid is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
The dugoutNassim Yattou is not enjoying his job description
Abdeljalil Saâd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and ES Ben Aknoun are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abdelhak Mahrez after 0‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Aymen Chaaraoui’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ES Ben Aknoun needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Aziz Benabdi
Mohamed Benchaira 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Benzaid is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Abdelhak Mahrez after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nassim Yattou’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ES Ben Aknoun needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at ES Ben Aknoun was different afterwards.
0‑4 against JS Kabylie, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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.
ES Ben Aknoun asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. ES Ben Aknoun will try again when the window opens; CR Belouizdad may not be selling by then.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
ES Ben Aknoun close the window on a squad of their own making
14 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ES Ben Aknoun have done the hard part with CR Belouizdad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AS Nancy is saying, and nobody at ES Ben Aknoun is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Housseyn Selmi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
ES Ben Aknoun asked and Montpellier HSC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Abderrahmane Hachoud has moved up it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ES Ben Aknoun have done the hard part with MC Oran, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Mohamed Benchaira 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.
ES Ben Aknoun asked and Sochaux said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Benzaid 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 makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. ES Ben Aknoun will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Abdeljalil Saâd 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.
ES Ben Aknoun offered $41.0K; MC El Bayadh said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Nantes have kept their man, and ES Ben Aknoun go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. ES Ben Aknoun will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $44.5K — a club that wants Sofiane Abdellaoui enough to be asked twice.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ES Ben Aknoun have done the hard part with MC Alger, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to MC El Bayadh this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation ES Ben Aknoun are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Housseyn Selmi keeps the shirt for now, at ES Ben Aknoun's convenience rather than his own.
Mohamed Benchaira 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mehdi Guedioura has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Islam Zeffane 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. Nassim Tahrat 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. Aissa Bennacer 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.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at ES Ben Aknoun. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Akram Djahnit and ES Ben Aknoun agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and ES Ben Aknoun are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.