Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Thuto Sesipi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
294 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Igbongidi signs something — a contract at FC Diarra 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. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 128 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Thuto Sesipi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
BoardroomFC Diarra release $654.4K for the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Thuto Sesipi 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 Jul 2038
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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 FC Diarra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadMpho Khethang has become a man the manager trusts
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 FC Diarra have had the benefit of it.
305 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Thuto Sesipi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadThuto Sesipi has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 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 FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Diarra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Thuto Sesipi 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 words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at FC Diarra will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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 FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Diarra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thuto Sesipi 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
In brief
BoardroomFC Diarra release $654.4K for the manager
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2038
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang has become a man the manager trusts
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Diarra 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at FC Diarra 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 FC Diarra, another week without a signature from Adama Tamboura.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thuto Sesipi 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 Apr 2038
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Sulaiman Salisu on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and Real Bamako.
Real Bamako left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Mar 2038
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
11 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. AS Bakaridjan kept coming because nothing stopped them, and FC Diarra will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.35 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 1, 60 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.44 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Abdoulaye Coulibaly will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at FC Diarra escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Diarra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
US Bougouba will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. FC Diarra were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 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.
Marked 9.93 — 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.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.40 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 1, 51 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.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boubacar Maiga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FC Diarra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A 3‑2 win over Djoliba, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings15 Feb 2038
David Igbongidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.26. 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.
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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2038
A brace, and Mpho Khethang takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mpho Khethang provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and US Forces Armees, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A 4‑2 win over US Forces Armees, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Khama Hlatshwayo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and AS Korofina.
A performance of 8.90 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Feb 2038
Mpho Khethang was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.68. 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with US Bougouni the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that FC Diarra will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 7.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Jan 2038
A first appearance Lassana Kone will want to forget — 5.14
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.14, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and FC Diarra will not try tonight.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 9.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings18 Jan 2038
Modibo Diaby, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.63
A mark of 8.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
A season average of 7.22 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
3 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.
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.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 9.24, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 FC Diarra have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Khama Hlatshwayo will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at FC Diarra escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Khama Hlatshwayo provided it, and the 8.59 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 FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Position 1, 29 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 12 goals between FC Diarra and AS Bakaridjan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Igbongidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.35, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and Onze Createurs, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
289 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
3 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FC Diarra and Etoiles du Mande in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.53, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Position 2, 17 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FC Diarra and US Bougouni in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad23 Nov 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and Djoliba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Modibo Diaby 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 no crueller way to lose a football match. FC Diarra scored in the 111th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings9 Nov 2037
Djigui Tamboura, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.45
A mark of 8.45 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
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.
10.00. 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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Thuto Sesipi 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: Abdoulaye Coulibaly. 2‑1 against Binga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.95. 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.
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.
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 5‑3 win over Afrique Foot Elite, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between FC Diarra and Afrique Foot Elite, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad19 Oct 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
2‑6 to AS Police, 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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between FC Diarra and AS Police, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad12 Oct 2037
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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 8.50 — 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.
Beaten 6 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
287 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
8.80. 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Djigui Keita 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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 1, 61 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.
Thuto Sesipi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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. FC Diarra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
BoardroomThe FC Diarra production line keeps running
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Diarra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.23, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Thuto Sesipi 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 words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Everyone has stopped pretending: AS Korofina will make the call about Boubacar Maiga this week. FC Diarra have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Nobody at FC Diarra will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 1, 61 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 words a physio says slowly. 47 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The quietest bad news in football. At 21 nothing has moved for months — not backwards, which would at least be a conversation, simply nowhere. Somebody at the club will have to decide whether that is the club's fault or his.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Diarra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
BoardroomThe FC Diarra production line keeps running
BoardroomThe FC Diarra board put their names to it
The words a physio says slowly. 54 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Aug 2037
At 21, Modibo Diaby is already the best thing here
An average of 7.23 in a first team he is several years too young for. FC Diarra have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 68 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 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 FC Diarra, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Jul 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Diarra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
BoardroomThe FC Diarra production line keeps running
The words a physio says slowly. 82 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. FC Diarra will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The words a physio says slowly. 103 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Diarra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 110 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.23, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The words a physio says slowly. 117 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Diarra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 1, 61 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at FC Diarra 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. FC Diarra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Diarra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang has become a man the manager trusts
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 1, 61 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 May 2037
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Diarra know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
BoardroomThe FC Diarra production line keeps running
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Diarra have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMpho Khethang has become a man the manager trusts
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Thuto Sesipi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
A season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Abdoulaye Coulibaly had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and AS Bakaridjan were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.28 — 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 ratings23 Mar 2037
Thuto Sesipi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.04. 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.
Position 1, 57 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.88, 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between FC Diarra and Etoiles du Mande, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
David Igbongidi had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and US Bougouba were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Diarra can pretend not to have heard.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Squad2 Mar 2037
At 21, Modibo Diaby is already the best thing here
An average of 7.16 in a first team he is several years too young for. FC Diarra have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
90 minutes played. Khama Hlatshwayo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and US Bougouni went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Position 1 and 51 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings16 Feb 2037
A brace, and Thuto Sesipi takes the afternoon — 9.95
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thuto Sesipi provided it, and the 9.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdoulaye Coulibaly provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sulaiman Salisu provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Thuto Sesipi 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 a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Feb 2037
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modibo Diaby did not need any: 8.22, 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 FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
8 goals in one match, Abdoulaye Coulibaly on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and AS Korofina.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
A season average of 7.09 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FC Diarra and Binga in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Position 1, 39 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings19 Jan 2037
Modibo Diaby, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.08
A mark of 8.08 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Khama Hlatshwayo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and Afrique Foot Elite.
Marked 9.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings12 Jan 2037
A brace, and Thuto Sesipi takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thuto Sesipi provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FC Diarra and AS Police in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Abdoulaye Coulibaly will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at FC Diarra escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
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 FC Diarra have had the benefit of it.
Marked 8.83 — 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.
Modibo Diaby, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 9.29
A mark of 9.29 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
At 20 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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FC Diarra may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings22 Dec 2036
A brace, and Mpho Khethang takes the afternoon — 8.53
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mpho Khethang provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10.00. 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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings15 Dec 2036
Ousmane Keita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. 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.
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.
Ousmane Keita had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Etoiles du Mande were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alioune Sylla and FC Diarra agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings8 Dec 2036
David Igbongidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
3 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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
7 goals in one match, David Igbongidi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and US Bougouba.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. FC Diarra know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between FC Diarra and Djoliba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
10 goals and a season average of 7.42 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Words at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mpho Khethang is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 18 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Sulaiman Salisu will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at FC Diarra escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Boubacar Maiga 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
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.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
10.00. 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FC Diarra and AS Korofina in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Marked 9.13 — 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Diarra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad27 Oct 2036
Mpho Khethang falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
8.47. 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.
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings20 Oct 2036
Daouda Kone, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.81
A mark of 8.81 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Thuto Sesipi 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.
10 goals in one match, Khama Hlatshwayo on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Diarra and Afrique Foot Elite.
Player ratings20 Oct 2036
Thuto Sesipi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.74. 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.
In brief
SquadWords at FC Diarra training over how hard people work
Player ratingsMpho Khethang was on a different afternoon to everybody else