JS Kabylie

Algerian League 1
14 Mar 2028
Tuesday
Process
85 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ardile Traoré hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 3

49 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Ryad Boudebouz out for 131 days

The medical room confirms 131 days on the sidelines for Ryad Boudebouz, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Ahmed Mammeri: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

Back issues
84 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Zineddine Belaïd and JS Kabylie agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

JS Kabylie lose Mehdi Boudjemaa

63 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Mohamed Idir Hadid

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Idir Hadid, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against USM Alger

0‑1 to USM Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sabri Dahal

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Loan watch

Ramy Medjani wants to come home

“I did not go to MC Oran to sit and watch. I want to come back to JS Kabylie and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Player ratings

Oto John keeps on missing

Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Loan watch

Lahlou Akhrib keeps scoring at MC El Bayadh

27 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

83 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Sabri Dahal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

JS Kabylie cannot stop winning

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.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Oto John is carrying JS Kabylie

17 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Zineddine Belaïd

Marked 9.11 — 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.

Match

JS Kabylie see off ASO Chlef

Three points for JS Kabylie, 2‑1 the final word against ASO Chlef in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Oto John

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Billal Messaoudi

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Aimen Lahmeri gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

82 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

16 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 16 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Zineddine Belaïd

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Home is on Ardile Traoré's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; JS Kabylie are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Match

JS Kabylie get the job done against JS Saoura

A 2‑0 win over JS Saoura, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Amine Messoussa

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

One of those days for Amine Messoussa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd is carrying JS Kabylie

4 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

In brief

81 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

15 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 15 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Market

Ardile Traoré hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 3

43 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Kassim Doumbia says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Tochukwu Michael

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Célestin Écua

Marked 8.82 — 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.

Match

Célestin Écua sends JS Kabylie past MB Rouissat

It finished 2‑0, and it was Célestin Écua’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to JS Kabylie.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Leon Balogun

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

80 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

14 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 14 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Mehdi Boudjemaa out for 99 days

The medical room confirms 99 days on the sidelines for Mehdi Boudjemaa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

Mohamed Idir Hadid gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Oto John

Marked 8.05 — 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.

Squad

No place for Amine Messoussa on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at JS Kabylie pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

JS Kabylie and MC El Bayadh take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Loan watch

Lahlou Akhrib keeps scoring at MC El Bayadh

23 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

79 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Zineddine Belaïd

Defensive actions: 35. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

No mercy from JS Kabylie

CS Constantine will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. JS Kabylie were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

13 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Billal Messaoudi

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd 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.

Market

Business is business: Massinissa Nezla goes

CR Belouizdad paid $560.0K and JS Kabylie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Tochukwu Michael

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Sofiane Boufal

Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sofiane Boufal

4 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

In brief

78 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Still nobody has beaten JS Kabylie

The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Kassim Doumbia hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

JS Kabylie sign Oussama Benhaoua for $610.0K

The paperwork is done: Oussama Benhaoua joins from USM Alger in a deal worth $610.0K. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal in the eights

A performance of 8.91 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Ardile Traoré gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sofiane Boufal

3 goals and a season average of 7.33 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Oualid Malki is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at JS Kabylie has been clear about where Oualid Malki stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

77 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

JS Kabylie refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 35 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.

Market

Ardile Traoré hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Market

JS Kabylie turn down ES Mostaganem for Oualid Malki

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

One of those days for Oto John

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Makhehleni Makhaula gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Oto John rescues a point for JS Kabylie

It needed Oto John to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against ES Setif, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

76 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

10 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Squad

JS Kabylie count the cost of losing Mehdi Boudjemaa

129 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

ES Mostaganem join the queue for Oualid Malki

Add another name to the list: ES Mostaganem have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Oualid Malki. The answer from JS Kabylie has not changed — yet.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi in the eights

A performance of 8.89 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ryad Boudebouz in the eights

A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Allan Nyom

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Aimen Lahmeri

“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.

In brief

75 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Zineddine Belaïd shuts the door

Defensive actions: 35, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Mehdi Boudjemaa

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

The season belongs to Zineddine Belaïd

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 JS Kabylie have had the benefit of it.

Match

9 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aimen Lahmeri

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Makhehleni Makhaula 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.

Match

JS Kabylie get the job done against Paradou

A 1‑0 win over Paradou, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Oto John

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Boardroom

JS Kabylie release $4.9M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

74 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Mehdi Boudjemaa

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

Still nobody has beaten JS Kabylie

The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Ardile Traoré

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ardile Traoré, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Allan Nyom shuts the door

Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Zineddine Belaïd

A mark of 7.83, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

Gaya Merbah knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gaya Merbah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Billal Messaoudi

3 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

In brief

73 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 2

29 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Ardile Traoré puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ardile Traoré keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” JS Kabylie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Still nobody has beaten JS Kabylie

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Mohamed Idir Hadid lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Squad

Home is on Ardile Traoré's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; JS Kabylie are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi in the eights

A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Sofiane Boufal

Marked 8.69 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

72 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sofiane Boufal

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Still nobody has beaten JS Kabylie

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Leon Balogun

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

One of those days for Oto John

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Oto John sends JS Kabylie past Olympique Akbou

It finished 1‑0, and it was Oto John’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to JS Kabylie.

Player ratings

One of those days for Mehdi Boudjemaa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.20 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Mohamed Idir Hadid asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

71 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Zineddine Belaïd

Marked 9.23 — 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 ratings

A masterclass from Billal Messaoudi

Marked 9.08 — 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.

Match

Billal Messaoudi the difference as JS Kabylie beat MC Oran

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Billal Messaoudi. 2‑1 against MC Oran, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gaya Merbah

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Ryad Boudebouz in the eights

A performance of 8.65 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Oualid Malki signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oualid Malki commits to JS Kabylie for another 4 years.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sofiane Boufal

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd says his piece

“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.

In brief

70 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Mohamed Idir Hadid

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Zineddine Belaïd

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Billal Messaoudi

Marked 8.21 — 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Ardile Traoré

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ardile Traoré, and the manager let it.

In brief

69 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 2

21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Mohamed Idir Hadid

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Boudjemaa

Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Seif Benrabah says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Allan Nyom in the eights

A performance of 9.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Makhehleni Makhaula

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

JS Kabylie see off USM Alger

Three points for JS Kabylie, 2‑0 the final word against USM Alger in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

68 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nothing got past Mehdi Boudjemaa

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 39 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

Sofiane Boufal leads the rout of ASO Chlef

3‑0, and Sofiane Boufal took the headlines on an afternoon when everything JS Kabylie tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Mohamed Idir Hadid

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

One of those days for Allan Nyom

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Sofiane Boufal

Marked 9.31 — 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 ratings

One of those days for Billal Messaoudi

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jonathan Mensah

“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.

Squad

Gaya Merbah knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at JS Kabylie, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

67 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to JS Kabylie's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Kabylie has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Boudjemaa

Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Zineddine Belaïd shuts the door

Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mohamed Réda Hamidi

Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Omar Sobhi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Gaya Merbah knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gaya Merbah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Match

JS Kabylie and JS Saoura cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. JS Saoura came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

66 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Omar Sobhi asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for JS Kabylie

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Billal Messaoudi

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against MB Rouissat

1‑3 to MB Rouissat, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

One of those days for Oto John

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Mohamed Idir Hadid gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Inquest at JS Kabylie

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Player ratings

Leon Balogun never got going

4.67 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

In brief

65 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

6 matches without a win for JS Kabylie

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around JS Kabylie are no longer polite ones.

Squad

JS Kabylie lose Ryad Boudebouz

31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aimen Lahmeri

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Kassim Doumbia

“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.

Match

JS Kabylie share the spoils with MC El Bayadh

A 1‑1 draw with MC El Bayadh leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

64 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to JS Kabylie's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Kabylie has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Aimen Lahmeri runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua in the eights

A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Oto John

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Makhehleni Makhaula

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Makhehleni Makhaula, and the manager let it.

In brief

63 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The cup run ends for JS Kabylie

0‑1 against MB Rouissat, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

4 matches without a win for JS Kabylie

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around JS Kabylie are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

One of those days for Billal Messaoudi

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Aimen Lahmeri in the eights

A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Mehdi Boudjemaa

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mehdi Boudjemaa, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Doors closed at JS Kabylie

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Ahmed Mammeri's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at JS Kabylie needed to.

In brief

62 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Sofiane Boufal signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sofiane Boufal commits to JS Kabylie for another 2 years.

Squad

Ardile Traoré wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and JS Kabylie know it.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Leon Balogun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

One of those days for Zineddine Belaïd

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Gaya Merbah

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gaya Merbah, and the manager let it.

In brief

61 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

JS Kabylie count the cost of losing Ryad Boudebouz

62 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Omar Sobhi

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Oto John

Marked 8.19 — 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.

Match

Oto John rescues a point for JS Kabylie

It needed Oto John to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against ES Mostaganem, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

60 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Boudjemaa

Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

JS Kabylie make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now JS Kabylie have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Zineddine Belaïd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Allan Nyom

Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Zineddine Belaïd

Marked 9.49 — 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.

In brief

59 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

Mohamed Réda Hamidi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohamed Réda Hamidi and JS Kabylie agree another 3 years.

Player ratings

One of those days for Sofiane Boufal

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

One of those days for Célestin Écua

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.61, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

JS Kabylie get the job done against USM Khenchela

A 1‑0 win over USM Khenchela, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Hamza Mouali shuts the door

Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

The Oualid Malki conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Chikhura will make the call about Oualid Malki this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

Makhehleni Makhaula has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. JS Kabylie know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

In brief

58 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Lahcen Gourbi comes home

The shirt still fits. Lahcen Gourbi is back at JS Kabylie, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

As if he never left: Walid Tawfik returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Walid Tawfik is a JS Kabylie player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

Yacine Goudjil comes home

The shirt still fits. Yacine Goudjil is back at JS Kabylie, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Said Medjani comes home

The shirt still fits. Said Medjani is back at JS Kabylie, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Match

JS Kabylie find a way past ES Ben Aknoun

ES Ben Aknoun made JS Kabylie work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Allan Nyom

Marked 8.82 — 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Ryad Boudebouz

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Oto John in the eights

A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

57 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from Plateau United for Mohamed Amine Madani 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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

The Ahmed Mammeri conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: ASO Chlef will make the call about Ahmed Mammeri this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Market

JS Kabylie bring in an old head

Omar Sobhi is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.

Squad

Omar Sobhi has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. JS Kabylie know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

Squad

Oto John has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Oto John keeps the shirt for now, at JS Kabylie's convenience rather than his own.

In brief

56 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from MC El Bayadh for Lahlou Akhrib 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.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich attracts admirers

The name of Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

The Mohamed Amine Madani conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: El-Kanemi Warriors will make the call about Mohamed Amine Madani this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Market

Ahmed Mammeri placed on the list

JS Kabylie have made Ahmed Mammeri available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Squad

Mostapha Rezkallah Bott knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mostapha Rezkallah Bott trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

55 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

ASO Chlef come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and JS Kabylie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

JS Kabylie sell Marco Antonio Bueno for $430.0K

Marco Antonio Bueno has left for USM Alger in a $430.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Market

Mohamed Amine Madani attracts admirers

The name of Mohamed Amine Madani has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

The Jaredi Teixeira conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: MC El Bayadh will make the call about Jaredi Teixeira this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

This league is too small for Ardile Traoré

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. JS Kabylie will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief

54 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Marco Antonio Bueno: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

JS Kabylie lose Mohamed Amine Madani

96 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Oto John stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Oto John and JS Kabylie agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

Wa All Stars expected to open talks for Mohamed Amine Madani

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Market

The Mohamed Réda Hamidi story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Réda Hamidi signs something — a contract at JS Kabylie or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

53 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

USM Alger come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and JS Kabylie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Mostapha Rezkallah Bott attracts admirers

The name of Mostapha Rezkallah Bott has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

In brief

52 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Marco Antonio Bueno hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Market

JS Kabylie turn down Wa All Stars for Mohamed Réda Hamidi

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

The shop window has Ahmed Mammeri in it

JS Kabylie have let the market know Ahmed Mammeri can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

Squad

Oussama Benattia asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

Billal Messaoudi keeps his manager's vote

The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Billal Messaoudi plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.

In brief

51 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

JS Kabylie turn down El-Kanemi Warriors for Mohamed Amine Madani

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Business is business: Abdelmoumen Benchabane goes

ES Setif paid $110.0K and JS Kabylie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

JS Kabylie put Marco Antonio Bueno up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Marco Antonio Bueno may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Madani asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Arthur Bada story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Arthur Bada signs something — a contract at JS Kabylie or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

50 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

MB Rouissat come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and JS Kabylie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

JS Kabylie count the cost of losing Mohamed Amine Madani

127 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Market

Arthur Bada attracts admirers

The name of Arthur Bada has come up in conversations JS Kabylie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Wa All Stars expected to open talks for Mohamed Réda Hamidi

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jonathan Mensah

“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.

In brief

49 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The season belongs to Zineddine Belaïd

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 JS Kabylie have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Mostapha Rezkallah Bott says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from MB Rouissat for Abdelmoumen Benchabane 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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Wa All Stars watching Mohamed Réda Hamidi

The interest is real enough to have reached print. JS Kabylie have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Wa All Stars expected to open talks for Mohamed Amine Madani

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

48 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

USM Khenchela come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and JS Kabylie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

JS Kabylie sell Aimen Mahious for $3.7M

Aimen Mahious has left for Zamalek in a $3.7M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Abdelhak Cherir is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Walid Khermouche moves on

ES Setif pay $140.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Loan watch

Oualid Malki has seen enough of USM Alger

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at JS Kabylie, and 6 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

47 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Oto John: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

ES Setif come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and JS Kabylie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Youcef Izem has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Zamalek expected to open talks for Aimen Mahious

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

JS Kabylie lose Reda Benchaa

17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

46 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from Wa All Stars for Mohamed Amine Madani 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.

Market

Zamalek join the queue for Aimen Mahious

Add another name to the list: Zamalek have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Aimen Mahious. The answer from JS Kabylie has not changed — yet.

Market

Abdelmoumen Benchabane asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Oussama Haroun has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Arthur Bada stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Arthur Bada and JS Kabylie agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

45 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Fares Nechat asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Market

Fares Nechat is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

ES Setif watching Abdelhak Cherir

The interest is real enough to have reached print. JS Kabylie have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

USM Khenchela expected to open talks for Arthur Bada

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Marco Antonio Bueno

“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.

In brief

44 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Walid Khermouche has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Oualid Malki has seen enough of USM Alger

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at JS Kabylie, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

43 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mohamed Réda Hamidi: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nadir Yakoubi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nadir Yakoubi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

42 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Walid Khermouche: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Abdelhak Cherir has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Madani asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

Still no signature from Fares Nechat

1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what JS Kabylie could get for him.

Market

The shop window has Fares Nechat in it

JS Kabylie have let the market know Fares Nechat can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

41 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Fares Nechat puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Jaredi Teixeira keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” JS Kabylie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Fares Nechat

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fares Nechat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

40 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Kassim Doumbia says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Walid Khermouche is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

39 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jonathan Mensah: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Nadir Yakoubi is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

In brief

38 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Oto John says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Abdelhak Cherir

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelhak Cherir will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

37 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Fares Nechat puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Fares Nechat

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fares Nechat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

36 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The cup run ends for JS Kabylie

0‑1 against MC Oran, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Market

Marco Antonio Bueno puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Walid Khermouche is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Arthur Bada

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Leon Balogun gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

35 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Nadir Yakoubi is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

JS Kabylie count the cost of losing Jonathan Mensah

15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Match

Olympique Akbou take the points off JS Kabylie

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ryad Boudebouz

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Doors closed at JS Kabylie

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

In brief

34 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Lahlou Akhrib: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Abdelhak Cherir is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aimen Lahmeri

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gaya Merbah

“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.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against MC Oran

0‑1 to MC Oran, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

33 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Boudjemaa

Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Market

Fares Nechat hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Jonathan Mensah

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Market

Fares Nechat has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal in the eights

A performance of 9.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

JS Kabylie get the job done against CR Belouizdad

A 1‑0 win over CR Belouizdad, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Leon Balogun in the eights

A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Jonathan Mensah gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

32 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Marco Antonio Bueno asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Squad

Marco Antonio Bueno says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Walid Khermouche is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Sofiane Boufal stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Sofiane Boufal and JS Kabylie agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against USM Alger

0‑1 to USM Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

31 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Billal Messaoudi

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Nadir Yakoubi has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Allan Nyom

Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Marco Antonio Bueno wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and JS Kabylie know it.

Squad

Kassim Doumbia gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Zineddine Belaïd

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Ryad Boudebouz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.22 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Aimen Mahious leaves them behind him

Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

In brief

30 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Abdelhak Cherir is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Match

JS Kabylie see off JS Saoura

Three points for JS Kabylie, 3‑1 the final word against JS Saoura in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ryad Boudebouz

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Aimen Lahmeri

Marked 8.80 — 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 ratings

A masterclass from Sofiane Boufal

Marked 8.41 — 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 ratings

One of those days for Billal Messaoudi

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Madani gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Sofiane Boufal

3 goals and a season average of 7.22 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

In brief

29 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Fares Nechat asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Match

6 matches without a win for JS Kabylie

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around JS Kabylie are no longer polite ones.

Market

Fares Nechat is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Mohamed Idir Hadid: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

JS Kabylie come up short against MB Rouissat

MB Rouissat left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sofiane Boufal

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jonathan Mensah

“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.

Boardroom

Inquest at JS Kabylie

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

In brief

28 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nothing got past Zineddine Belaïd

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Market

JS Kabylie turn down CS Constantine for Fares Nechat

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

The wait goes on for JS Kabylie

5 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Walid Khermouche

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Walid Khermouche will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sofiane Boufal

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Allan Nyom takes the honours

Marked 7.63 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, JS Kabylie had the best player on the pitch.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Madani left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mohamed Amine Madani will call it something else in private.

Market

CS Constantine are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. JS Kabylie will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

27 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aimen Lahmeri

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Wa All Stars come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and JS Kabylie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Match

No end in sight to JS Kabylie's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at JS Kabylie has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Nadir Yakoubi is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JS Kabylie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

JS Kabylie come up short against CS Constantine

CS Constantine left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

No hiding place for Aimen Mahious

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aimen Mahious, and the manager let it.

Market

CS Constantine join the queue for Ahmed Mammeri

Add another name to the list: CS Constantine have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmed Mammeri. The answer from JS Kabylie has not changed — yet.

Player ratings

The one thing Aimen Mahious could not do

Shots: 12, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

26 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Laïd Chahine Bellaouel says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Aimen Lahmeri runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Only the photograph left for Abdelhak Cherir

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelhak Cherir will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Market

Eyes on Mohamed Réda Hamidi again

The phone has started ringing about Mohamed Réda Hamidi again, and this time the name on the line is Canon Yaounde. JS Kabylie are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Gaya Merbah gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against MC Alger

0‑1 to MC Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

The Arthur Bada conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: USM Khenchela will make the call about Arthur Bada this week. JS Kabylie have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Leon Balogun

Marked 5.26, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

25 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

JS Kabylie are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 38 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

Fares Nechat puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Market

JS Kabylie turn down JS Saoura for Abdelmoumen Benchabane

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Eyes on Arthur Bada again

The phone has started ringing about Arthur Bada again, and this time the name on the line is USM Khenchela. JS Kabylie are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

No hiding place for Mehdi Boudjemaa

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mehdi Boudjemaa, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Zineddine Belaïd

A mark of 7.93, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Player ratings

Aimen Lahmeri runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

24 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from ASO Chlef for Oualid Malki 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Walid Khermouche

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Walid Khermouche will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Ryad Boudebouz runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

7 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

One of those days for Sofiane Boufal

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

ES Setif expected to open talks for Ahmed Mammeri

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Match

JS Kabylie and ES Mostaganem take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd is carrying JS Kabylie

3 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

In brief

23 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

JS Kabylie march on in the cup

MB Rouissat are out and JS Kabylie go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Gaya Merbah

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Jonathan Mensah says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Fares Nechat

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

Nobody wants to play JS Kabylie right now

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.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd is named among the best

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. JS Kabylie will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from MC El Bayadh for Fares Nechat 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.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Allan Nyom

Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Oussama Benattia

Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

22 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Nobody wants to play JS Kabylie right now

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.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Madani out for 22 days

The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Mohamed Amine Madani, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Zineddine Belaïd

Marked 9.88 — 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 ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Boudjemaa

Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 142% of everything JS Kabylie earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Match

Zineddine Belaïd sends JS Kabylie past USM Khenchela

It finished 1‑0, and it was Zineddine Belaïd’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to JS Kabylie.

Player ratings

Leon Balogun shuts the door

Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

21 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Zineddine Belaïd shuts the door

Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 3

30 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Fares Nechat hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Leon Balogun

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Mehdi Boudjemaa

Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Aimen Mahious the difference as JS Kabylie beat ES Ben Aknoun

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aimen Mahious. 1‑0 against ES Ben Aknoun, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Aimen Lahmeri gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

20 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Oto John says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Match

Zineddine Belaïd sends JS Kabylie past Olympique Akbou

It finished 2‑1, and it was Zineddine Belaïd’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to JS Kabylie.

Player ratings

One of those days for Zineddine Belaïd

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gaya Merbah

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Marco Antonio Bueno in the eights

A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi in the eights

A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Mohamed Abdelmoumene Kadri out for 32 days

The medical room confirms 32 days on the sidelines for Mohamed Abdelmoumene Kadri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

19 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Marco Antonio Bueno hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Zineddine Belaïd

Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Home is on Marco Antonio Bueno's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; JS Kabylie are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Marco Antonio Bueno

“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.

Match

JS Kabylie and MC Oran cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. MC Oran came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Player ratings

The one thing Aimen Mahious could not do

Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Player ratings

Jonathan Mensah shuts the door

Defensive actions: 11, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

  • Squad Oto John asks for a word with the manager
  • Market The clock does Fares Nechat’s negotiating for him
18 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

JS Kabylie count the cost of losing Mohamed Amine Madani

52 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for JS Kabylie against CR Belouizdad

2‑3 to CR Belouizdad, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal in the eights

A performance of 9.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Boardroom

171% of the income goes out in wages at JS Kabylie

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Squad

No hiding place for Jonathan Mensah

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Mensah, and the manager let it.

In brief

17 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Fares Nechat puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Aimen Lahmeri runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Costly mistake from Gaya Merbah

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gaya Merbah knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

Match

JS Kabylie come up short against USM Alger

USM Alger left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal in the eights

A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Kassim Doumbia gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Gaya Merbah knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gaya Merbah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Player ratings

Allan Nyom never got going

4.71 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

In brief

16 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Still nobody has beaten JS Kabylie

The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Match

JS Kabylie get the job done against ASO Chlef

A 2‑1 win over ASO Chlef, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ryad Boudebouz

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Marco Antonio Bueno

Marked 8.55 — 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.

Squad

Leon Balogun gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

15 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Marco Antonio Bueno: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” JS Kabylie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

JS Kabylie up to position 3

20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sofiane Boufal

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

JS Kabylie lose Jonathan Mensah

14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Player ratings

Allan Nyom shuts the door

Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Mehdi Boudjemaa

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Zineddine Belaïd

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

14 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

10 unbeaten for JS Kabylie

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation JS Kabylie did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Leon Balogun shuts the door

Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Madani out for 84 days

The medical room confirms 84 days on the sidelines for Mohamed Amine Madani, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Zineddine Belaïd

Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ryad Boudebouz

Marked 9.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Boardroom

171% of the income goes out in wages at JS Kabylie

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Match

Ryad Boudebouz the difference as JS Kabylie beat MB Rouissat

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ryad Boudebouz. 1‑0 against MB Rouissat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief

13 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Fares Nechat puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Sultan Harun says JS Kabylie went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Sofiane Boufal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Zineddine Belaïd

Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi in the eights

A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Aimen Mahious

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aimen Mahious, and the manager let it.

Match

JS Kabylie see off MC El Bayadh

Three points for JS Kabylie, 1‑0 the final word against MC El Bayadh in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

12 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Célestin Écua

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Match

4 matches without a win for JS Kabylie

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around JS Kabylie are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Leon Balogun

“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.

Match

Marco Antonio Bueno rescues a point for JS Kabylie

It needed Marco Antonio Bueno to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against CS Constantine, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

11 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Lahlou Akhrib runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Mohamed Idir Hadid decides it from twelve yards

2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Match

JS Kabylie through in the cup

A 0‑0 win over Olympique Akbou, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Player ratings

Reda Benchaa shuts the door

Defensive actions: 29, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

Whatever happens, JS Kabylie do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Allan Nyom in the eights

A performance of 9.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Oussama Benattia

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Kassim Doumbia gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

10 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

JS Kabylie lose Mohamed Amine Madani

115 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

Marco Antonio Bueno wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and JS Kabylie know it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 295% of everything JS Kabylie earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Player ratings

One of those days for Zineddine Belaïd

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.93, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Gaya Merbah

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gaya Merbah, and the manager let it.

In brief

9 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Fares Nechat puts it in writing

“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Aimen Mahious sends JS Kabylie past ES Mostaganem

It finished 2‑1, and it was Aimen Mahious’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to JS Kabylie.

Player ratings

One of those days for Aimen Mahious

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jonathan Mensah

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Jaredi Teixeira asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

The room hears from Sofiane Boufal

“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the JS Kabylie squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.

Market

Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich linked with a move away

The name of Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich keeps appearing in other people's back pages. JS Kabylie say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

8 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Aimen Lahmeri in the eights

A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Aimen Mahious

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Leon Balogun gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Ryad Boudebouz runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Aimen Mahious rescues a point for JS Kabylie

It needed Aimen Mahious to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Paradou, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

7 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Oto John the difference as JS Kabylie beat USM Khenchela

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oto John. 2‑1 against USM Khenchela, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Allan Nyom

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.75, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sofiane Boufal

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Jaredi Teixeira gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

A first senior shirt for Youcef Izem

Every debut is a small story about the future: Youcef Izem, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.

In brief

6 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Laïd Chahine Bellaouel hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Célestin Écua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Allan Nyom

Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Boardroom

221% of the income goes out in wages at JS Kabylie

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Match

JS Kabylie see off ES Ben Aknoun

Three points for JS Kabylie, 1‑0 the final word against ES Ben Aknoun in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Mehdi Boudjemaa

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Billal Messaoudi in the eights

A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Marco Antonio Bueno

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marco Antonio Bueno, and the manager let it.

In brief

5 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Fares Nechat asks to leave JS Kabylie

“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.

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from USM Khenchela for Lahlou Akhrib 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.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

4 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Oussama Benattia hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at JS Kabylie

Allan Nyom 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Jonathan Mensah

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. JS Kabylie will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief

3 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

This league is too small for Sofiane Boufal

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. JS Kabylie will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Market

MB Rouissat expected to open talks for Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. JS Kabylie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Market

JS Kabylie bring in an old head

Kassim Doumbia is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.

Market

Jonathan Mensah brings the grey hairs JS Kabylie lacked

At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

Squad

Allan Nyom still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at JS Kabylie would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

2 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

JS Kabylie say no — this time

The offer from USM Alger for Fares Nechat 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.

Squad

Zineddine Belaïd signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Zineddine Belaïd commits to JS Kabylie for another 3 years.

Squad

Allan Nyom in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Aimen Mahious gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Allan Nyom has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. JS Kabylie know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

Market

The clock runs on Mehdi Boudjemaa's contract

48 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The JS Kabylie Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Fares Nechat hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JS Kabylie can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Ryad Boudebouz signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ryad Boudebouz commits to JS Kabylie for another 2 years.

Squad

Ryad Boudebouz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Eyes on Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich again

The phone has started ringing about Islam Eddine Slimane Tichtich again, and this time the name on the line is MB Rouissat. JS Kabylie are listening politely and promising nothing.

Market

JS Kabylie and Ryad Boudebouz are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Market

24 months and counting on Mohamed Amine Madani

Still no offer on the table, and Mohamed Amine Madani’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

In brief