“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympique Akbou have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Oussama Darfalou and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hamdi Labidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
CR Belouizdad next, and one man in the Olympique Akbou dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hicham Messiad trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Hamdi Labidi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merouane Mehdaoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Rayane Yesli knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Riyad Zeffane after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oussama Darfalou’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Olympique Akbou needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympique Akbou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
Player ratingsMohamed Amran beats them one at a time
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique Akbou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merouane Mehdaoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Hicham Messiad had Olympique Akbou level again within 4 minutes, and JS Saoura never got to play with a lead at all.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fethi Kessassi and Olympique Akbou agree another 3 years.
It needed Hicham Messiad to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against JS Saoura, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Riyad Zeffane was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Olympique Akbou dressing room was either.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and MB Rouissat were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamdi Labidi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Oussama Darfalou and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Oussama Darfalou 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
MC El Bayadh next, and one man in the Olympique Akbou dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Olympique Akbou has been clear about where Ahmed Alili stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohammed El Hachami Chacha is on it.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympique Akbou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fethallah Tahar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Hamdi Labidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
CS Constantine left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Riyad Zeffane to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Olympique Akbou has been clear about where Benaouda Klileche stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
7.92, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merouane Mehdaoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
A 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.
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.
Hamdi Labidi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merouane Mehdaoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Olympique Akbou has been clear about where Merouane Mehdaoui stands, which is more than many ever get.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Riyad Zeffane left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
Player ratingsMohamed Amran beats them one at a time
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
7.70, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hamdi Labidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Toufik Addadi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against ES Mostaganem, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Riyad Zeffane chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique Akbou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merouane Mehdaoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against ES Mostaganem in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hatem El Fegoun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 6.05 for the rest of it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Criciúma is saying, and nobody at Olympique Akbou is enjoying the guessing.
Oussama Darfalou and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Hamdi Labidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.87, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Riyad Zeffane kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympique Akbou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Amran was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Olympique Akbou have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Olympique Akbou will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympique Akbou can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique Akbou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Ali Ehab is 20, and Olympique Akbou 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
That is the business done at Olympique Akbou until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at MC Alger is saying, and nobody at Olympique Akbou is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Hamdi Labidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Olympique Akbou asked and Corinthians said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Walid Zamoum was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympique Akbou, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against MC Oran.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Criciúma keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Hamdi Labidi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Olympique Akbou asked and Flamengo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Olympique Akbou are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Olympique Akbou have made the call to Chapecoense. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
SquadWords at Olympique Akbou training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympique Akbou can pretend not to have heard.
Olympique Akbou had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Coritiba, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Oussama Darfalou 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Oussama Fatmi has just signed for Olympique Akbou, and for once the answer mattered.
Olympique Akbou asked and Santos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Olympique Akbou have made the call to Criciúma. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The offer from ES Mostaganem for Kheireddine Benamrane 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Olympique Akbou have done the hard part with USM Alger, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Santos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique Akbou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamdi Labidi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Olympique Akbou asked and Vasco da Gama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Olympique Akbou that is a harder question to answer.
A new face in his position, and Fethallah Tahar suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Olympique Akbou have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The deal with Santos is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hamdi Labidi and Olympique Akbou agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Oussama Darfalou and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fethi Kessassi has just signed for Olympique Akbou, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Internacional have kept their man, and Olympique Akbou go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abderrahmane Slimani has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Karim Benrahma is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdelkader Benaceur has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hicham Touba has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
The dugoutHamdi Labidi asks for a word with the manager
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Olympique Akbou will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fethallah Tahar and Olympique Akbou agree another 2 years.
Fethallah Tahar 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Oussama Darfalou’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Olympique Akbou are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.