Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Rasheed Ahmed 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Ahmed Yassin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amr Saleh is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amr El Mohamady and Petrojet agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
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 Emad Tarek left the room before anybody could ask which.
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 94, against Al Gaish, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Omar Salah.
Arab Contractors go through and Petrojet go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet 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 Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.63 — 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Police Union were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Rasheed Ahmed
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Badr Mousa at his very best
BoardroomNobody left the Petrojet dressing room in a hurry
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.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zidan Nageh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
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 Emad Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Badr Mousa signs something — a contract at Petrojet or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Emad Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Petrojet has been clear about where Mohamed Ali Okasha stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Canaria trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
0‑4 to Al Ahly, 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.
The terraces5 Nov 2029
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Adel Ali has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Amr El Gazar 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.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ahmed Yassin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zidan Nageh 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.
Something was said to Ahmed Kofta and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Emad Tarek after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Canaria 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 Oct 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A 2‑0 win over Arab Contractors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Arab Contractors were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Ghazl El Mahalla kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Petrojet will be asked about the last half hour all week.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.78 for the rest of it.
Canaria 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Something was said to Omar Salah and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Zidan Nageh 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Gabriel Chukwudi.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Petrojet are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The shirt still fits. Gabriel Chukwudi is back at Petrojet, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Michael Fosu has just signed for Petrojet, and for once the answer mattered.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Zidan Nageh falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Petrojet will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Petrojet will try again when the window opens; Ittihad may not be selling by then.
Marked 8.68 — 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.
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Petrojet and Ittihad have settled on $230.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Petrojet close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 10 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Petrojet had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AEK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Canaria 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.
ENPPI will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. David Benjamin has pre-agreed a move to Petrojet, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zidan Nageh 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.
Petrojet asked and Cukaricki said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
El Masry have accepted the money. What Petrojet do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Canaria 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.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Petrojet
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramadan Marwan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mahmoud Ashour 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. Ibrahim Tarek has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Omar Salah has just signed for Petrojet, and for once the answer mattered.
Everything agreed with Haras El Hodoud, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The shirt still fits. Omar Salah is back at Petrojet, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Rasheed Ahmed has improved at 29, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdulraheem Shola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mohamed El Negely is living that version at Petrojet, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
ENPPI will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Youssef Sabra has pre-agreed a move to Petrojet, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Pereira have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Amro Tarek.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ittihad have accepted the money. What Petrojet do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with Al Ahly, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
$90.0K on the table at Smouha. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Rasheed Ahmed and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 32 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Petrojet asked and Haras El Hodoud said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
114 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$16.0K on the table at ENPPI. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Hazem Gamal has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
122 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
ENPPI have accepted the money. What Petrojet do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdulraheem Shola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
130 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with El Masry; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The offer went to Al Ahly this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Canaria 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mohamed Ali Okasha is a Petrojet player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Los Andes have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
137 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abubakar Liadi commits to Petrojet for another 3 years.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Petrojet asked and Argentinos Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Salaheddine Benyachou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and El Masry waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Petrojet had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Grêmio, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Canaria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Petrojet asked and Cerro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Petrojet have made the call to Argentinos Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Mostafa El Badry is on it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Military Production waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have shaken hands with El Masry; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with Grêmio, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Gaish have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Amr El Gazar 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 offer from Smouha for Gabriel Chukwudi 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samir Fekri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Samir Fekri has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Rasheed Ahmed was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Abdulraheem Shola has come up in conversations Petrojet were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Canaria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Chukwudi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hossam Aboutrika has written the date down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
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 Mostafa El Badry is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrojet, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Canaria 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Ahmed Yassin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Petrojet know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 6, 56 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdulraheem Shola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
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 Hazem Gamal is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Amro Tarek.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Ahmed Yassin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Petrojet told Karim El Deeb something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Rasheed Ahmed was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hazem Gamal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Gabriel Chukwudi is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Petrojet know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Adel Ali.
Position 6, 56 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Petrojet could ask drops and the wages Gabriel Chukwudi can ask rise.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Hazem Gamal are not good
BoardroomThe Petrojet production line keeps running
Position 6 on 56 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Petrojet pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Canaria 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rasheed Ahmed. 1‑0 against Police Union, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Rasheed Ahmed was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Badr Mousa scored in the 87th minute, Masr El Makasa had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Petrojet took the lot.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Emad Tarek, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Abubakar Liadi will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Petrojet escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Ahmed Yassin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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 Salaheddine Benyachou.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Badr Mousa commits to Petrojet for another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Amr El Gazar 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amro Tarek, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
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 0‑1 Emad Tarek left the room before anybody could ask which.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Rasheed Ahmed 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 Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Amro Tarek will call it something else in private.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
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.” Emad Tarek kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Amr El Gazar, marked 7.89, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amr El Gazar. 3‑2 against Arab Contractors, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Zidan Nageh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Arab Contractors tried to reorganise, Petrojet did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
In brief
Transfer targetsThe window shuts on the Charles Tambe deal
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Badr Mousa at his very best
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Ismaily; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal that would have taken Ikenna Benjamin to Aswan has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Petrojet with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Salaheddine Benyachou and Petrojet agree another 4 years.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hazem Gamal will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
Canaria 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Zidan Nageh falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A loan enquiry to Al Ahly: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Emad Tarek, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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 Mostafa El Badry is on it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with Ittihad, 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: Rayo Vallecano keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Petrojet asked and Panserraikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A 2‑0 win over Military Production, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Haras El Hodoud waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with Rayo Vallecano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Petrojet asked and El Masry said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Amr El Gazar 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Zamalek for Canaria was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ikenna Benjamin has agreed terms with ENPPI for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Rasheed Ahmed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rasheed Ahmed. 2‑1 against Wadi Degla, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Canaria 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Zidan Nageh falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Amro Tarek has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdulraheem Shola has his answer from Petrojet; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
1‑4 to Haras El Hodoud, 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin 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.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutHazem Gamal has become a man the manager trusts
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Ahmed Yassin 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.
Minute 87, against El Masry, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Something was said to Hazem Gamal and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A 1‑1 draw with El Masry leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Emad Tarek was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Petrojet dressing room was either.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Aswan had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Petrojet did not stop to explain themselves.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Petrojet did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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 17 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.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
Canaria 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Ahmed Yassin
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ahmed Yassin has come out of that comparison in the side, and Petrojet have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al Gaish defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
1 for Canaria, marked 7.91, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Petrojet.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Emad Tarek, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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 Hazem Gamal is on it.
In brief
The dugoutAmro Tarek asks for a word with the manager
Smouha go through and Petrojet go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Hossam Aboutrika has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
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.
A point taken on 92 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.
Canaria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Ahmed Yassin 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.
He is 23 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Emad Tarek on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Petrojet will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
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 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Emad Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Adham Farid is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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 Mostafa El Badry is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Canaria 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Ahmed Yassin 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.
“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 dugout30 Oct 2028
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 Emad Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Al Ahly next, and one man in the Petrojet dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Petrojet will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Canaria scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Ahmed Yassin 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
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 0‑1 Emad Tarek left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Arab Contractors in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amro Tarek and Petrojet agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Emad Tarek on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Rasheed Ahmed was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Ahmed Yassin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Zidan Nageh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Badr Mousa was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Two goals and a mark of 8.49 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The goal that put Smouha ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Petrojet equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
It needed Salaheddine Benyachou to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Smouha, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Canaria 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 Sep 2028
Ahmed Yassin 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 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Petrojet ran out of time with Aswan. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al Gaish waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Petrojet and Aswan have settled on $180.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Petrojet 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Petrojet offered $120.0K; Zamalek said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Petrojet asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Haras El Hodoud had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Petrojet did not stop to explain themselves.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.91 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Petrojet have gone to Zamalek with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Yassin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahim El Asyuti is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BATE have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. El Sayed Hegazi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Trezeguet Elneny 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. Ahmed El Wensh is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Rasheed Ahmed 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.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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 Mostafa El Badry is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Abdulraheem Shola.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Petrojet people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Petrojet and Ismaily have settled on $140.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Hesham Balaha has agreed terms with Ittihad for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Petrojet offered $170.0K; El Masry said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with ENPPI is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The offer went to El Masry this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ENPPI have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Petrojet and Aswan have settled on $170.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahim El Asyuti is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sekou Sonko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Petrojet asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdulraheem Shola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with ENPPI, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Arab Contractors moved on, Mahmoud Ahmed Morsi reports back to Petrojet, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Yassin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Salaheddine Benyachou has just signed for Petrojet, and for once the answer mattered.
Petrojet and Arab Contractors have settled on $49.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with El Masry, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Abdoulaye Diabaté reports back to Petrojet with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 103 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
$140.0K settles it between the clubs for Mohamed Zidan
Ismaily have accepted the money. What Petrojet do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Hesham Balaha 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Petrojet go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ismaily waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The name of Hesham Balaha has come up in conversations Petrojet were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Petrojet have gone to Smouha with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Hesham Balaha 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.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrojet lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdoulaye Diabaté has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Canaria and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hesham Balaha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 125 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Zizo has agreed terms with El Dakhleya for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
132 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Petrojet lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hesham Balaha 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Badr Mousa signs something — a contract at Petrojet or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Canaria 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Hesham Balaha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mostafa El Badry is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Canaria and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Petrojet training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hesham Balaha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ahmed Yassin is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrojet, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Hesham Balaha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Petrojet would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Nobody at Petrojet will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrojet, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mahmoud Ahmed Morsi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Canaria 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Hesham Balaha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mostafa El Badry is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Petrojet, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 40 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Zidan Nageh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Petrojet, another week without a signature from Hesham Balaha.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Hesham Balaha
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Karim El Deeb.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Karim El Deeb
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Canaria 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Hesham Balaha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mostafa El Badry is on it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Masr El Makasa? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Police Union in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdoulaye Diabaté will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Petrojet the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Badr Mousa. 1‑0 against El Dakhleya, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Petrojet have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
Canaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Emad Tarek after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Something was said to Sekou Sonko and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Canaria 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Hesham Balaha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Emad Tarek to a room that had heard them before.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.60 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Millonarios keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Sekou Sonko reports back to Petrojet with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Petrojet people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Petrojet 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.
“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 Petrojet, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Petrojet they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Petrojet have done the hard part with Progreso, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrojet this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hesham Balaha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Petrojet can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Petrojet have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Estudiantes is saying, and nobody at Petrojet is enjoying the guessing.
Canaria 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abubakar Liadi and Petrojet agree another 3 years.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Hesham Balaha 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.
Ittihad go through and Petrojet go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Military Production waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Petrojet is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have shaken hands with Wadi Degla; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.