From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at ES Mostaganem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Hacene Bengrina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ES Mostaganem the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 90 days on the sidelines for Luis Fernando Cruz, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Mehdi Zeffane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad25 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Maki Tall
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maki Tall, and the manager let it.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
97% of the income goes out in wages at ES Mostaganem
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Abdellah Haimoud
4 goals and a season average of 7.27 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match23 Jan 2027
It needed Abdellah Haimoud to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against ES Ben Aknoun, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
17 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Judas Moseamedi 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Judas Moseamedi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
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.
Match16 Jan 2027
It needed Rafael Durán to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Olympique Akbou, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdesslam Hannane trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market18 Jan 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Boualem Amine Masmoudi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jan 2027
ASO Chlef come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and ES Mostaganem did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Mehdi Zeffane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
One of those days for Ali Haroun
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.97, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer from MC Alger for Mehdi Zeffane 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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 ES Mostaganem have had the benefit of it.
Market4 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelhafid Benamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ES Mostaganem the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ES Mostaganem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.93 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Dec 2026
120 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match26 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for ES Mostaganem
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around ES Mostaganem are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Rafael Durán 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
USM Alger left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
143% of the income goes out in wages at ES Mostaganem
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
No hiding place for Maki Tall
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maki Tall, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Zoubir Motrani: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ES Mostaganem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market21 Dec 2026
Boualem Sryer hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Mostaganem can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Zeffane
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Houssem Bayoud
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match19 Dec 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. ASO Chlef defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Mehdi Zeffane 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdesslam Hannane, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
The one thing Rafael Durán could not do
Shots: 12, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Judas Moseamedi 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
MB Rouissat left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Judas Moseamedi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.10 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Nov 2026
4‑1, and Rafael Durán took the headlines on an afternoon when everything ES Mostaganem tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Rafael Durán takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market30 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Mostaganem can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
149 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Mehdi Zeffane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.70, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 9.27 — 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
157% of the income goes out in wages at ES Mostaganem
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
6 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Djamel Benlamri: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ES Mostaganem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match21 Nov 2026
1‑2 to CS Constantine, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Maki Tall gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. ES Mostaganem lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market16 Nov 2026
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to ES Mostaganem's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Mostaganem has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Rafael Durán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rafael Durán, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” ES Mostaganem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ali Haroun runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for ES Mostaganem
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around ES Mostaganem are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rafael Durán in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match7 Nov 2026
0‑1 to ES Setif, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
157% of the income goes out in wages at ES Mostaganem
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
MC Oran left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Mehdi Zeffane
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Ali Haroun
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Judas Moseamedi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.63 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Maki Tall keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” ES Mostaganem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market19 Oct 2026
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Djamel Benlamri
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.62 on the card, and the ES Mostaganem support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match17 Oct 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. USM Khenchela defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Oct 2026
CS Constantine ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad12 Oct 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market12 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Mostaganem can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Judas Moseamedi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 8.69 — 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Maki Tall
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Rafael Durán 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; ES Mostaganem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 232% of everything ES Mostaganem earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rafael Durán in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑2 to JS Kabylie, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
Rafael Durán takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market21 Sep 2026
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Rafael Durán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 9.58 — 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market14 Sep 2026
Boualem Sryer hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Mostaganem can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Abdellah Haimoud 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Maki Tall
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with USM Alger leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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 Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.90, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Rafael Durán gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdellah El Moudène. 1‑0 against ASO Chlef, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
133% of the income goes out in wages at ES Mostaganem
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Mostaganem can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and ES Mostaganem did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 2026
33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
Mounir Aziria hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Mostaganem can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Djamel Benlamri 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: USM Khenchela have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Boualem Sryer. The answer from ES Mostaganem has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Rafael Durán in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Houssem Bayoud has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at ES Mostaganem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
MC Alger come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and ES Mostaganem did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Rafael Durán in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Mostaganem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“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 ES Mostaganem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mehdi Zeffane and ES Mostaganem agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Rafael Durán 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Rafael Durán
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. ES Mostaganem will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at ES Mostaganem, another week without a signature from Djamel Benlamri.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months and counting on Ali Haroun
Still no offer on the table, and Ali Haroun’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.