From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Nov 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match9 Nov 2030
6 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Nov 2030
The medical room confirms 92 days on the sidelines for Marzouq Tambakti, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market11 Nov 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Nov 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match9 Nov 2030
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al-Mojzel defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Nov 2030
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ohod can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Nov 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Nov 2030
A season average of 7.11 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ohod know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Match2 Nov 2030
The wait goes on for Ohod
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.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Mehdi Ebrahimi 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.
Match2 Nov 2030
Ohod share the spoils with Al-Jeel
A 1‑1 draw with Al-Jeel leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad4 Nov 2030
“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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Mehdi Ebrahimi 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
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Mehdi Ebrahimi
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Boardroom
Ohod answer back
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Boardroom
Ohod keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Oct 2030
127 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match26 Oct 2030
4 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Match26 Oct 2030
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Al-Diriyah
2‑4 to Al-Diriyah, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Oct 2030
The manager makes an example of Enzo Arancibia
“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 ratings28 Oct 2030
Marked 8.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
A performance of 8.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Oct 2030
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nahuel Gambino knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Oct 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Oct 2030
“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 ratings21 Oct 2030
Marked 8.40 — 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 ratings21 Oct 2030
Marked 8.30 — 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.
Match19 Oct 2030
3‑3, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad21 Oct 2030
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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Ahmed Al-Badah 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 Ahmed Al-Badah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The terraces21 Oct 2030
Everybody has an opinion about Nahuel Gambino
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Oct 2030
The medical room confirms 120 days on the sidelines for Marzouq Tambakti, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market14 Oct 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match12 Oct 2030
It needed Mehdi Ebrahimi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Ta'ee, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad14 Oct 2030
At 20 years old, Salem Al Hashmi became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Market14 Oct 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marzouq Tambakti signs something — a contract at Ohod or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Oct 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad7 Oct 2030
A season average of 7.05 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Ohod know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match5 Oct 2030
Al-Faisaly left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Oct 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdulla Mohammed commits to Ohod for another 1 years.
Squad7 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Gambino, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Marked 5.68, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Marked 5.71, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Sep 2030
155 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ohod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Sep 2030
It finished 2‑1, and it was Roberto Soteldo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ohod.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Marked 8.58 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Shoqan Abzalov 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.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Sep 2030
The clock does Shoqan Abzalov’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ohod could ask drops and the wages Shoqan Abzalov can ask rise.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Ohod had a different afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Sep 2030
There were 10 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.
Market23 Sep 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces23 Sep 2030
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Match21 Sep 2030
Mehdi Ebrahimi scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Damac, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad23 Sep 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
Marked 8.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad23 Sep 2030
At 18 years old, Ali Al-Shammari became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Market23 Sep 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Sep 2030
The small margins put Ohod out
Out, 1‑1 to Al-Qadisiyah, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad16 Sep 2030
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Nahuel Gambino: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Squad16 Sep 2030
148 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market16 Sep 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Sep 2030
“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; Ohod are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
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 ratings16 Sep 2030
A performance of 8.84 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Amjad Takrouni 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Sep 2030
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market9 Sep 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Murillo and Ohod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roberto Soteldo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
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.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
Wages eat 88% of everything Ohod 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.
Match7 Sep 2030
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Al-Riyadh will be the happier side with the point.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergio Murillo commits to Ohod for another 2 years.
Squad2 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulla Mohammed, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Ahmed Al-Badah 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.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match31 Aug 2030
Point won or two lost for Ohod?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Al-Shoulla? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Aug 2030
There were 14 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.
Market26 Aug 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Ahmed Al-Badah 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.
Match24 Aug 2030
Ohod get the job done against Al-Nahda
A 1‑0 win over Al-Nahda, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad26 Aug 2030
“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.
Squad26 Aug 2030
At 18 years old, Saad Al-Subaie became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Aug 2030
11 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Market19 Aug 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Aug 2030
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Aug 2030
The manager makes an example of Sergio Murillo
“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.
Squad19 Aug 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sami Al-Sultan and Ohod agree another 3 years.
Market19 Aug 2030
Everyone has stopped pretending: Al-Ta'ee will make the call about Bandar Al-Enezi this week. Ohod have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Every debut is a small story about the future: Sami Al-Sultan, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Aug 2030
10 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Market12 Aug 2030
“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.
Market12 Aug 2030
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mohammed Al-Rashid is a Ohod player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market12 Aug 2030
The shirt still fits. Fahad Al-Nemer is back at Ohod, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market12 Aug 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Match10 Aug 2030
Al-Fayha left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enzo Arancibia, and the manager let it.
Boardroom12 Aug 2030
Ohod board go back on their word
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Salem Al Hashmi 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market5 Aug 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Aug 2030
Shoqan Abzalov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ohod has been clear about where Shoqan Abzalov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad5 Aug 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdulla Mohammed and Ohod agree another 1 years.
Market5 Aug 2030
At 37, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market5 Aug 2030
Experience through the door at Ohod
Iman Jafaripour arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
$163.8K taken back off the Ohod table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Squad5 Aug 2030
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 36 with 38 appearances behind him, and Ohod have to plan for both answers.
In brief
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Squad
A season on the outside for Iman Jafaripour
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Boardroom
The Ohod dressing room answers
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Boardroom
Ohod keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Jul 2030
The Al-Jeel deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Bandar Al-Enezi reports back to Ohod with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad29 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Jul 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jul 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom15 Jul 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ohod
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market15 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jul 2030
“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 Ohod know it.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Roberto Soteldo 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
The manager makes an example of Saud Al-Ruwaili
“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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Ahmed Al-Badah 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 Ahmed Al-Badah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ohod can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Jul 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market8 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Baurzhan Tymoshchuk commits to Ohod for another 3 years.
Market8 Jul 2030
Everyone has stopped pretending: Al-Ta'ee will make the call about Bandar Al-Enezi this week. Ohod have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad8 Jul 2030
The manager makes an example of Bandar Al-Enezi
“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.
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
$163.8K taken back off the Ohod table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market8 Jul 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
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Squad
Nahuel Gambino still has not settled
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Boardroom
Ohod were not finished after all
-
Boardroom
Ohod keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Jul 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Jul 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fahad Al-Rashidi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jul 2030
The manager makes an example of Bader Fallatah
“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.
Market1 Jul 2030
Serikzhan Beysebekov is 18, and Ohod have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market1 Jul 2030
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Ohod money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Jun 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shoqan Abzalov, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Jun 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amjad Takrouni and Ohod agree another 2 years.
Market24 Jun 2030
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
Market24 Jun 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nahuel Gambino’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom17 Jun 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ohod
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market17 Jun 2030
“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.
Market17 Jun 2030
As if he never left: Amjad Takrouni returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Amjad Takrouni is a Ohod player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Market17 Jun 2030
Al-Orobah are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Ohod will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad17 Jun 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amjad Takrouni and Ohod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jun 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ohod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Jun 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samer Al-Marwani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jun 2030
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Sami Al-Salem, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market10 Jun 2030
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Ohod will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market10 Jun 2030
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 Jun 2030
Only the photograph left for Bader Fallatah
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bader Fallatah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market3 Jun 2030
Marwan Touri is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ohod has been clear about where Marwan Touri stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Roberto Soteldo 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.
Market3 Jun 2030
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Talal Al-Sulami and Ohod agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“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.
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
Ohod pull $163.8K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market3 Jun 2030
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 May 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom27 May 2030
88% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom20 May 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Ohod
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ohod is running low.
Squad20 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 May 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Enzo Arancibia and Ohod agree another 2 years.
Market20 May 2030
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market20 May 2030
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Ohod money.
Squad20 May 2030
Ahmed Al-Badah 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 May 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 May 2030
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad13 May 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Squad13 May 2030
57 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad13 May 2030
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market13 May 2030
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 May 2030
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ohod can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 May 2030
Bader Fallatah has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 May 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Squad6 May 2030
“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.
Boardroom6 May 2030
Ohod pull $163.8K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market6 May 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom29 Apr 2030
90% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Apr 2030
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market22 Apr 2030
Gabriel Leiva has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adel Al-Mutairi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 Apr 2030
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saad Al-Dawsari, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
62 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market15 Apr 2030
The clock does Gabriel Leiva’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ohod could ask drops and the wages Gabriel Leiva can ask rise.
Market15 Apr 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad15 Apr 2030
A season on the outside for Gabriel Leiva
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ohod has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Apr 2030
Only the photograph left for Bader Fallatah
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bader Fallatah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Apr 2030
The manager makes an example of Ahmed Al-Badah
“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.
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
Ohod pull $163.8K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
Ohod sign a deal worth $29.0K a year
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
Squad8 Apr 2030
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ohod has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market8 Apr 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market8 Apr 2030
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Gambino, and the manager let it.
Boardroom1 Apr 2030
86% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Ohod would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Mar 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Ohod
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ohod is running low.
Market25 Mar 2030
Only the photograph left for Gabriel Leiva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabriel Leiva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roberto Soteldo commits to Ohod for another 3 years.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Nahuel Gambino 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Marzouq Tambakti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Mar 2030
“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.
Market18 Mar 2030
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
Market18 Mar 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Shoqan Abzalov 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market11 Mar 2030
“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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mehdi Besak, and the manager let it.
Market11 Mar 2030
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ohod could get for him.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Shoqan Abzalov 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Mar 2030
No end in sight to Ohod's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ohod has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom4 Mar 2030
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market4 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Marzouq Tambakti 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.
Squad4 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Gambino, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market4 Mar 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ohod, another week without a signature from Nahuel Gambino.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Feb 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Ohod
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ohod is running low.
Match23 Feb 2030
The wait goes on for Ohod
8 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.
Market25 Feb 2030
Gabriel Leiva has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Feb 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad25 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bader Fallatah, and the manager let it.
Match23 Feb 2030
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al-Mojzel defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Marwan Touri 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Feb 2030
No end in sight to Ohod's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ohod has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Feb 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Feb 2030
The manager makes an example of Clement Zubah
“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 ratings18 Feb 2030
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.67 on the card, and the Ohod support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match16 Feb 2030
Point won or two lost for Ohod?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Al-Jeel? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Feb 2030
The wait goes on for Ohod
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market11 Feb 2030
“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.
Market11 Feb 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shoqan Abzalov commits to Ohod for another 1 years.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“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.
Match9 Feb 2030
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Al-Shoulla
0‑1 to Al-Shoulla, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Gabriel Leiva 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Feb 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ohod can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Feb 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fahad Al-Rashidi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match2 Feb 2030
No end in sight to Ohod's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ohod has to find a result from somewhere.
Market4 Feb 2030
“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.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Murillo and Ohod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Feb 2030
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Hajer
0‑2 to Hajer, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Gambino, and the manager let it.
In brief
-
Boardroom
85% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
-
Player ratings
Nobody could get near Gabriel Leiva
-
The terraces
Everybody has an opinion about Nahuel Gambino
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jan 2030
Ohod taken apart
1‑5 to Al-Ta'ee, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Boardroom28 Jan 2030
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market28 Jan 2030
Only the photograph left for Gabriel Leiva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabriel Leiva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The terraces28 Jan 2030
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market28 Jan 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Jan 2030
4 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fahad Al-Rashidi, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Jan 2030
Inquest at Ohod
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Jan 2030
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
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 ratings21 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
A mark of 7.52, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad21 Jan 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed Slimani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad21 Jan 2030
The manager makes an example of Saud Al-Ruwaili
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match19 Jan 2030
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Al-Faisaly came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market21 Jan 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marzouq Tambakti’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jan 2030
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.
Market14 Jan 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jan 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samer Al-Marwani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Marked 8.46 — 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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marwan Touri, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Jan 2030
The team sheet said everything about Shoqan Abzalov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Shoqan Abzalov.
Match12 Jan 2030
It needed Ahmed Al-Badah to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Batin, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jan 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Jan 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Clement Zubah, and the manager let it.
Match5 Jan 2030
It needed Gabriel Leiva to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Damac, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
Ohod pull $163.8K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market7 Jan 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Dec 2029
Only the photograph left for Gabriel Leiva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabriel Leiva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
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.
Boardroom31 Dec 2029
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market31 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Match29 Dec 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bandar Al-Enezi. 2‑0 against Al-Njoom, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Marked 8.49 — 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.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Shoqan Abzalov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Dec 2029
5 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Market24 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Dec 2029
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Al-Riyadh
0‑2 to Al-Riyadh, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“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 ratings24 Dec 2029
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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Gabriel Leiva 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
The one thing Clement Zubah 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 ratings24 Dec 2029
The one thing Marwan Touri could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 Dec 2029
The wait goes on for Ohod
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Match15 Dec 2029
Al-Khaleej left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Dec 2029
“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 ratings17 Dec 2029
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Gabriel Leiva 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 Gabriel Leiva trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The terraces17 Dec 2029
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Dec 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Dec 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Kalinichev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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 ratings10 Dec 2029
Marked 8.39 — 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 ratings10 Dec 2029
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.
Match8 Dec 2029
Ohod and Al-Nahda 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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad10 Dec 2029
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Ohod have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Shots: 8. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Dec 2029
A hiding for Ohod
Beaten 1‑4 by Al-Orobah, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market3 Dec 2029
Gabriel Leiva has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The terraces3 Dec 2029
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market3 Dec 2029
“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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Dec 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nahuel Gambino knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Bader Fallatah
“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
-
Boardroom
Doors closed at Ohod
-
Boardroom
86% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
-
Squad
Mohammed Slimani knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Nov 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad26 Nov 2029
“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 ratings26 Nov 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.71 on the card, and the Ohod support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
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.
Match24 Nov 2029
Point won or two lost for Ohod?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Al-Fayha? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market26 Nov 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marzouq Tambakti’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
A mark of 5.79 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Nov 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Match17 Nov 2029
Al-Saudi Al-Watani made Ohod work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.91 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.91 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Nahuel Gambino
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Nov 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
The one thing Clement Zubah could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Nov 2029
“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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Fahad Al-Rashidi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market12 Nov 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad12 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Clement Zubah
“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 ratings12 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match10 Nov 2029
Ohod and Al-Mojzel cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Al-Mojzel came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Defensive actions: 12. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market5 Nov 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohammed Slimani and Ohod agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Match3 Nov 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Clement Zubah. 1‑0 against Al-Jeel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad5 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Bader Fallatah
“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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Wages eat 89% of everything Ohod 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Oct 2029
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.
Market29 Oct 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match27 Oct 2029
The wait goes on for Ohod
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad29 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Marwan Touri 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Gabriel Leiva 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match27 Oct 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Al-Shoulla came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Oct 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match20 Oct 2029
Ohod come up short against Hajer
Hajer left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Bader Fallatah 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 Bader Fallatah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
5.39 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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
5.62 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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
Marked 5.79, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
57 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market15 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Match13 Oct 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shoqan Abzalov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Oct 2029
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market8 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Oct 2029
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Nahuel Gambino
“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 ratings8 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
5.26 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Ohod would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Marked 5.46, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ohod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Match29 Sep 2029
It finished 2‑1, and it was Gabriel Leiva’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ohod.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.99, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Marked 8.52 — 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bader Fallatah, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adel Al-Mutairi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market1 Oct 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marzouq Tambakti’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 7. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Ohod's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ohod has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad24 Sep 2029
55 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
Damac take the points off Ohod
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Adel Al-Mutairi
“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.
The terraces24 Sep 2029
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2029
Ohod bow out of the cup
Al-Taawoun go through and Ohod go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match15 Sep 2029
7 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Market17 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Kalinichev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fahad Al-Rashidi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
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.
Match15 Sep 2029
It needed Fahad Al-Rashidi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Al-Njoom, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Sep 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market10 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 Sep 2029
The wait goes on for Ohod
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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Marwan Touri
“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.
Match8 Sep 2029
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad10 Sep 2029
At 17 years old, Saad Al-Dawsari became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
A mark of 5.71 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market10 Sep 2029
The window shut and Fahad Al-Rashidi is still in the building
Ohod spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match1 Sep 2029
4 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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 ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 8.74 — 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Slimani, and the manager let it.
Match1 Sep 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Al-Khaleej leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market3 Sep 2029
A conversation is coming this week. Ohod will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad3 Sep 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Shots: 9. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Aug 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Aug 2029
The medical room confirms 83 days on the sidelines for Mohammed Al-Otaibi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adel Al-Mutairi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Marked 8.43 — 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.
Match25 Aug 2029
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Nahda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Aug 2029
A new face in his position, and Mohammed Slimani suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ohod have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market27 Aug 2029
The Marwan Touri story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marwan Touri signs something — a contract at Ohod or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ohod may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market20 Aug 2029
Mehdi Besak 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 Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Aug 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Match18 Aug 2029
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Al-Orobah
0‑2 to Al-Orobah, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market20 Aug 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Ohod will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Aug 2029
“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.
Market13 Aug 2029
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Nasser Al-Nemer is a Ohod player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market13 Aug 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market13 Aug 2029
The shirt still fits. Saad Al-Salem is back at Ohod, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
Match11 Aug 2029
Al-Fayha left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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 Ohod know it.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Gabriel Leiva 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market6 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Majed Al-Ghamdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market6 Aug 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
Ohod pull $221.6K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market6 Aug 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marzouq Tambakti’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
111 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad30 Jul 2029
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Market30 Jul 2029
Al-Mojzel are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Ohod will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market30 Jul 2029
The Marwan Touri story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marwan Touri signs something — a contract at Ohod or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Jul 2029
Ohod say no — this time
The offer from Al-Saudi Al-Watani for Majed Al-Ghamdi 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marzouq Tambakti and Ohod agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ohod
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market16 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2029
25 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Jul 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Majed Al-Ghamdi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Jul 2029
The name of Nahuel Gambino keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ohod say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Jul 2029
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Majed Al-Ghamdi reports back to Ohod with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market9 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Murillo and Ohod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Nahuel Gambino 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market9 Jul 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marzouq Tambakti’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ohod can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market2 Jul 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergio Murillo commits to Ohod for another 2 years.
Squad2 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2029
22 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Nahuel Gambino 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
$221.6K taken back off the Ohod table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market2 Jul 2029
The Marwan Touri story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marwan Touri signs something — a contract at Ohod or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
-
Market
Majed Al-Ghamdi placed on the list
-
Boardroom
Ohod answer back
-
Boardroom
The Ohod production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2029
The medical room confirms 29 days on the sidelines for Witan Maulana, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Ohod
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ohod is running low.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
Everyone has stopped pretending: Al-Jeel will make the call about Majed Al-Ghamdi this week. Ohod have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Market18 Jun 2029
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jun 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shoqan Abzalov commits to Ohod for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
52 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mehdi Besak and Ohod agree another 1 years.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market4 Jun 2029
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$221.6K taken back off the Ohod table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market4 Jun 2029
The Marwan Touri story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marwan Touri signs something — a contract at Ohod or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 May 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
“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.
Market28 May 2029
Experience through the door at Ohod
Mutaz Gharawi arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Market28 May 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Bader Fallatah may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad28 May 2029
A new face in his position, and Ahmed Al-Badah suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ohod have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market21 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 May 2029
Salem Al Hashmi is 19, and Ohod have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad21 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Salem Al Hashmi commits to Ohod for another 3 years.
Squad21 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Nahuel Gambino 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 May 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Subaie has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 May 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 May 2029
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 May 2029
80 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Nahuel Gambino 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Nahuel Gambino 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.
Boardroom7 May 2029
Ohod pull $221.6K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market7 May 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Abdulrahman Al-Harthi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market7 May 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marwan Touri’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Ohod answer back
-
Boardroom
Ohod keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Lucas Batatinha 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Ahmed Al-Badah 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Ohod
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ohod is running low.
Market23 Apr 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marzouq Tambakti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market23 Apr 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ohod know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market23 Apr 2029
Ohod have let the market know Majed Al-Ghamdi can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shoqan Abzalov and Ohod agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Lucas Batatinha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
Wages eat 121% of everything Ohod 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Apr 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Apr 2029
108 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad9 Apr 2029
61 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shoqan Abzalov and Ohod agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo 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.
Market9 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marwan Touri’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market2 Apr 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Lucas Batatinha 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.
Market2 Apr 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad2 Apr 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Nahuel Gambino. Ohod will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ohod
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Mar 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nahuel Gambino and Ohod agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Mar 2029
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Jorge Samaniego, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Wages eat 139% of everything Ohod 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Nahuel Gambino 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 Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Mar 2029
The name of Abdulrahman Al-Harthi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ohod say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Mar 2029
The medical room confirms 74 days on the sidelines for Marwan Touri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market12 Mar 2029
Ibrahim Al-Ghamdi is 17, and Ohod have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ibrahim Al-Ghamdi commits to Ohod for another 3 years.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Majed Al-Ghamdi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ohod can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Mar 2029
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.
Market5 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksandr Ivanjušin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ohod the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Fahad Al-Rashidi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Al-Otaibi and Ohod agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match3 Mar 2029
It finished 2‑1, and it was Abdulrahman Al-Harthi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ohod.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match24 Feb 2029
6 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Market26 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Feb 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Marzouq Tambakti 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.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Shots: 4, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Feb 2029
5 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
140% of the income goes out in wages at Ohod
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
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 ratings19 Feb 2029
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Clement Zubah
“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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdulrahman Al-Harthi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Feb 2029
Experience through the door at Ohod
Shoqan Abzalov arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Feb 2029
104 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match10 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Ohod's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ohod has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ohod, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market12 Feb 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marwan Touri’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market5 Feb 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ohod they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market5 Feb 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Ohod needed to.
Match3 Feb 2029
It needed Marzouq Tambakti to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Al-Shoulla, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
Pressure builds in the Ohod boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“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 ratings29 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Jan 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Al-Ta'ee leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Batatinha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
A mark of 5.67 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Jan 2029
A hiding for Ohod
Beaten 0‑3 by Al-Faisaly, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Add another name to the list: Hajer have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gabriel Leiva. The answer from Ohod has not changed — yet.
Squad22 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Jan 2029
Marek Sestak has left for Al-Nahda in a $15.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
Wages eat 107% of everything Ohod 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.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
Doors closed at Ohod
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 ratings22 Jan 2029
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Jan 2029
No mercy from Ohod
Al-Batin will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ohod were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market15 Jan 2029
“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 Ohod, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Jan 2029
134 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ohod this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.67, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
A performance of 8.51 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 Jan 2029
The team sheet said everything about Majed Al-Ghamdi
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Majed Al-Ghamdi.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match6 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Ohod's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ohod has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces8 Jan 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 27 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad8 Jan 2029
67 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adel Al-Mutairi and Ohod agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Lucas Batatinha 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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Damac take the points off Ohod
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Jan 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ohod
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market1 Jan 2029
Clement Zubah 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 Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Match30 Dec 2028
5 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Ohod
Abdulrahman Al-Harthi 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adel Al-Mutairi, and the manager let it.
Match30 Dec 2028
Honours even between Ohod and Al-Njoom
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Lucas Batatinha. Ohod will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Dec 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market25 Dec 2028
“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.
Match23 Dec 2028
4 matches without a win for Ohod
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ohod are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Ohod
Lucas Batatinha 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.
Match23 Dec 2028
A bad afternoon for Ohod against Al-Wehda
1‑2 to Al-Wehda, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Marked 8.81 — 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“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 ratings25 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
Wages eat 115% of everything Ohod 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Dec 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market18 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ohod is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market18 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ohod can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Ohod
Sergio Murillo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“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 ratings18 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match16 Dec 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Batatinha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.