Championnat national de football, 2007 - 2008

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June 15, 2007 -- In a move to strengthen the team for the coming season, ES Setif's managers are looking to recruit foreign attackers, Liberte reported on Thursday (June 14th). One of the players the Algerian club is considering is Ivory Coast national Blaise Koissy, who plays for Tunisia’s CS Sfax. Koissy has been considered one of the best footballers in the Tunisian championship for the past two years and registered ten goals during the 2005-2006 season, including two in the African Champions league. At the end of the 2006-2007 season, he was named SC Sfax’s best striker and third best striker in the championship, with eight goals. He is reportedly being sought by several teams in Tunisia and Europe, including Belgium’s second division team KSC Lokeren.

Also Thursday, the president of Algeria’s national football league, Ali Malek, announced that the 2007-2008 season for the first division will most likely open on August 30th and finish in May 2008, Liberte reported. Malek said that the second division championship will begin a week later.

ES Setif eyes Cote d’Ivoire's Koissy for next season

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Calendrier division nationale 1, saison 2007/2008

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July 31, 2007 -- Algerian club Mouloudia Alger (MCA) have signed three of the country's players plying their trade in France.

The Algiers club signed three-year contracts with former Troyes striker Andy Edine Dahmani and defender Sofiane Mezraoui of Sedan.

Algeria international goalkeeper Mohamed Benhamou also joined the club from French giants Paris Saint Germain (PSG).

"I was keen on returning to Algeria to play for MCA rather than staying in France because I knew I had no chance of being the first choice keeper with PSG," the 24-year-old said.

"I also want to play for Algeria and I am aware that I would never get such a chance if I do not play regularly."

MCA, who won the Algerian Cup last season, are looking for more Algerian players based in Europe to bolster their squad.

"It is a good strategy that I would like the club to adopt," Italian coach of MCA Enrico Fabbro said.

"Clubs here are used to sending their talents to Europe but maybe there are too many players over there right now."

"There are many Algerian players who are based in Europe who would like to have of playing regular football rather than sitting on the bench for the whole season."

MCA are expected to sign two more players based in Europe next week.

Mouloudia sign France-based trio

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LONDON, August 13, 2007 (Reuters) - Algeria's JS Kabylie have named former Tottenham Hotspur and Valencia midfielder Moussa Saib as caretaker coach after the departure last week of Kamel Mouassa.

Mouassa resiged days after JSK lost at home to Etoile Sahel of Tunisia in the group phase of the Champions League, a result that effectively ended their chances of a semi-final berth.

Moussa Saib named as JS Kabylie caretaker coach

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Algiers, August 20, 2007 (APS) – Only six clubs out of 16 contesting the national football first league have preferred so far to maintain their technical staff on the eve of the Algerian football championship kick-off on Thursday.

Actually, only Italian Enrico Fabbro (MC Algiers), Portuguese Gomes (MC Oran), along with Algerian Medjadj (NA Hussein Dey), Slimani (WA Tlemcen), Zekri (USM Annaba) and Ait-El-Hocine (OM Ruisseau) will be resuming work next Thursday with the teams they coached last season. The coaches’ turnover in football reflects the technical staff's instability in Algerian clubs’ life, where, like many foreign clubs, clubs blame their bad performance on the field on the coaches’ weakness.

2007-2008 football championship: Coaches’ turnover already started

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Reprise de la D1

Résultats

USM Blida- MC Alger 2/3

ASO Chlef- WA Tlemcen 2/1

ES Sétif- MC Oran 3/1

NAHD- OM Ruisseau 1/2

CR Belouizdad- MC Saida 0/0

CABBA- USM Annaba 1/2

USM Alger- JS Kabylie 1/0

AS Kharoub- JSM Bejaia 0/0

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August 24, 2007 -- The 46th Division I Algerian championship kicked off on Thursday (August 23rd), with 16 clubs vying for the title. Heavyweights and last year's champions Entente Sportive de Setif (ESS) and Mouloudia Club d'Alger (MCA) won their matches, while USM Alger (USMA) defeated JS Kabylie (JSK).

USMA narrowly defeated JSK 1-0 in their debut match at the Omar Hamadi stadium in Bologhine, Algiers. USMA's victory denied JSK, who missed out last year, the dazzling comeback they had hoped for. In a state of crisis after a string of defeats in the African Champions’ Cup, Kabylie recently parted company with yet another coach, Kamel Mouassa, who succeeded Ait Djoudi, also dismissed following a defeat. JSK are now being temporarily coached by Moussa Saib, a former player at the club, until a new – likely foreign – coach takes over. "We can’t lose this match", Saib said on the eve of their confrontation with their rivals from Algiers.

The other major club from the capital, Mouloudia d’Alger (MCA), kicked off with three points from their 3-2 win over USM Blida, the first of three away victories won on the first day of play in the championship. A total of five red cards were handed out on the first day of play, one to the coach of Tlemcen. By the end of the day 19 goals had been scored and six teams were provisionally tied for first place. Title-holders ES Setif bested MC Oran 3-0 at home.

This year saw a huge number of transfers and an unprecedented number of coaches moving between teams during the off season. The season saw an unusual number of high-value player transfers. Clubs often overbid in an effort to capture the best players, but player fees reached astronomical levels this year despite many clubs' claims of financial crisis. Newly-promoted USM Annaba returned to the top flight after a season in Division 2, stealing the limelight from traditional "big buyers" like JS Kabylie, ES Setif, MC Alger, USM Alger, CR Belouizdad and MC Oran, which are considered to be more financially endowed.

USM Annaba are boosted by an armada of new players, including Mezair, Zidane, Derradj, Hamlaoui, Abadli, Ouasti, Daoud Sofiane and Messaoud, among others. MC Oran was also active in transfers this year, acquiring names like Hanitser, Djebarat, Boudjakdji and Kechamli. USM Alger recruited the Rahim Meftah and Marek duo from JSK and also recalled Dziri (formerly of Qatar), Achiou (formerly with Aarau, Switzerland) and Bourahli (formerly of ESS). Only MC Alger, the current Algerian Cup holders, returned with an unchanged line-up.

Many teams also changed coaches for this season. Only six of the sixteen clubs retained their coaching staff from last year.

In view of the rampant coaching changes, seen as a sign of instability, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) reminded clubs to comply with the executive decree of September 2nd, 2006 which stipulates that "the issuance of a coaching permit is conditional upon the presentation of a contract tying the staff member to the club for a minimum of two years." To encourage compliance, associations have been called on to instruct leagues to reject any application that does not fall in line with the two-year stipulation.

Algerian football league kicks off, favourites stake claims to title