“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 The request is on a desk at Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maël Monyebe and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Maël Monyebe 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 terraces30 Aug 2027
Gazelle Garoua spend $410.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $410.0K for Warren Fozing, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Aigle Royal de la Menoua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Stade Renard de Melong have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Alain Sifor is in the works
Gazelle Garoua and Panthere du Nde have settled on $410.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Victoria United is saying, and nobody at Gazelle Garoua is enjoying the guessing.
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Gazelle Garoua were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
“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 The request is on a desk at Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gazelle Garoua and Stade Renard de Melong have settled on $140.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Dave Tessa 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.
Willy Ebendeng was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $52.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
$210.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
He is going to Unisport Bafang, the club has $210.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The offer from Aigle Royal de Moungo for Sony Farell Evina 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Arsene Mekila is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Everything agreed with Unisport Bafang, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jamiu Sulaimon and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years.
Dave Tessa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
SquadWords at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
The dugoutArsene Mekila knocks on the manager’s door
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Colombe du Dja et Lobo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jamiu Sulaimon and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Maël Monyebe 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.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Stade Renard de Melong said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Fauve Azur Elite have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
In brief
The dugoutArsene Mekila knocks on the manager's door
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sony Farell Evina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gazelle Garoua the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cotonsport Garoua keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Colombe du Dja et Lobo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Unisport Bafang have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Prat Manyo and Gazelle Garoua agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sony Farell Evina 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.
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Cotonsport Garoua. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Cotonsport Garoua is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Victoria United is saying, and nobody at Gazelle Garoua is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Unisport Bafang have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Hassan Ibrahim. The answer from Gazelle Garoua has not changed — yet.
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’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Samuel Oyongo has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
23 appearances and 1 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Aigle Royal de Moungo for Hassan Ibrahim 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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jacques Kotto 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Housseini Ousmanou is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from AS Korofina for Djakao Barka 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.
Dave Tessa 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.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Victoria United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Jacques Kotto 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.
A loan enquiry to Colombe du Dja et Lobo: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Fortuna Mfou. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutArsene Mekila knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua 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 Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cotonsport Garoua have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Cotonsport Garoua: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to Victoria United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to Stade Renard de Melong: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
In brief
SquadWanre Daikreo falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutArsene Mekila asks for a word with the manager
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Gazelle Garoua can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Cotonsport Garoua is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cotonsport Garoua have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sony Farell Evina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jordy Doumbe Youmba may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Wanre Daikreo 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.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hassan Ibrahim has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutSaidou Nouhou asks for a word with the manager
SquadThe training reports on Jacques Kotto are not good
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Zacharie Ebogo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sony Farell Evina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hassan Ibrahim has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Wanre Daikreo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, 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 Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sony Farell Evina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua 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. Gazelle Garoua know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Gazelle Garoua is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Housseini Ousmanou is on it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Marius Kalgong was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wanre Daikreo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sony Farell Evina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dave Tessa 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 Apr 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Landry Kunde is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Wanre Daikreo 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Prat Manyo is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Gazelle Garoua is running low.
Maël Monyebe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sony Farell Evina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua 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 money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $2.5M, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutSaidou Nouhou asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Zacharie Ebogo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sony Farell Evina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sony Farell Evina is on it.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jordy Doumbe Youmba may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordy Doumbe Youmba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gazelle Garoua the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zacharie Ebogo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sony Farell Evina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
In brief
The dugoutWanre Daikreo asks for a word with the manager
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mathieu Ngansiri commits to Gazelle Garoua for another 3 years.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacques Kotto 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Arsene Mekila trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Maël Monyebe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
1‑7 to Cotonsport Garoua, 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.
Position 11 on 20 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua 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 Gazelle Garoua and Cotonsport Garoua in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordy Doumbe Youmba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gazelle Garoua the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Gazelle Garoua and Dynamo Douala in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zacharie Ebogo. 4‑2 against Dynamo Douala, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 7.94. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacques Kotto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Jordy Doumbe Youmba will call it something else in private.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cotonsport Garoua keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑3 against Stade Renard de Melong, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gazelle Garoua may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Gazelle Garoua close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Canon Yaounde keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Zacharie Ebogo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordy Doumbe Youmba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gazelle Garoua the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Cotonsport Garoua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Cotonsport Garoua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Colbert Binni takes the afternoon — 8.50
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Colbert Binni provided it, and the 8.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 goals in one match, Colbert Binni on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Gazelle Garoua and Unisport Bafang.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Fauve Azur Elite said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Out, 0‑3 to Cotonsport Garoua, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Position 12 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
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.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.67 for the rest of it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jamiu Sulaimon has, at Gazelle Garoua, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
10 combined actions and 6.84. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
7 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuel Oyongo after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Zacharie Ebogo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The 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.
1‑4 against Canon Yaounde, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, 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 Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 combined actions and 7.45. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
1‑6 against Cotonsport Garoua, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gazelle Garoua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Gazelle Garoua and Cotonsport Garoua, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Joel Kunde 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nicolas Mbeumo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Landry Kunde 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuel Oyongo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sony Farell Evina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Maël Monyebe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Samuel Oyongo left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Gazelle Garoua will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Chances created: 8. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Itende was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jacques Kotto is on it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Gazelle Garoua scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gazelle Garoua they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Djakao Barka, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 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.
Zacharie Ebogo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Jordy Doumbe Youmba 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Gazelle Garoua. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Zacharie Ebogo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wanre Daikreo 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.
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to Gazelle Garoua and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Samuel Oyongo, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Djakao Barka 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. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Gazelle Garoua and PWD Bamenda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jacques Kotto and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuel Oyongo after 3‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
2 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 8.99 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Arsene Mekila is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abiola Dauda. 2‑0 against Unisport Bafang, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordy Doumbe Youmba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gazelle Garoua the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I did not go to Foullah Edifice to sit and watch. I want to come back to Gazelle Garoua and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Maël Monyebe 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.
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Wanre Daikreo 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Colbert Binni did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Arsene Mekila is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Zacharie Ebogo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wanre Daikreo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
A 2‑2 draw with Aigle Royal de Moungo leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Samuel Oyongo chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gazelle Garoua can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gazelle Garoua they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Hassan Ibrahim reports back to Gazelle Garoua with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Zacharie Ebogo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Djakao Barka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wanre Daikreo 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Canon Yaounde.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Canon Yaounde next, and one man in the Gazelle Garoua dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gazelle Garoua, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gazelle Garoua people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Stade Renard de Melong for Colbert Binni 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.
“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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Maël Monyebe 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.
Gazelle Garoua asked and PWD Bamenda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Cotonsport Garoua. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Stade Renard de Melong. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andre Ngamaleu and Gazelle Garoua agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Gazelle Garoua are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
SquadWords at Gazelle Garoua training over how hard people work
The dugoutArsene Mekila knocks on the manager’s door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gazelle Garoua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gazelle Garoua asked and Colombe du Dja et Lobo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
A season-long audition: Cotonsport Garoua still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Gazelle Garoua's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
A new face in his position, and Colbert Binni suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Gazelle Garoua have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Maël Monyebe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Canon Yaounde have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fabrice Ntcham has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eric Aboubakar has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Landry Mabouka 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.
Colombe du Dja et Lobo have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Gazelle Garoua have made the call to Cotonsport Garoua. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all 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 Gazelle Garoua, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AJ Auxerre have kept their man, and Gazelle Garoua go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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. Gazelle Garoua will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
49 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.
Canon Yaounde have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gazelle Garoua has been clear about where Kendry Domingo stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gazelle Garoua, another week without a signature from Colbert Binni.