It’s a kind of start to life at a new club no player would wish for. He arrived at MC Alger convinced of the board’s project to transform the side from contended top-four finishers to league champions with a commanding fee of €600,000. His signing hummed supporters to life and the general belief to end their one-year trophy duck was apparent. Then a catalog of disappointments kicked in. The marquee acquisition is yet to deliver with a run of less than prepossessing outings. Just when it was thought The Deans’ early Caf Champions League exit was already immense trouble well felt, the 5-0 defeat to rivals JSK Kabylie capped it all off.
Abderrahmane Bourdim is all soured up. Events revolving around him and the club plus vexed agitating hordes of fans throwing vitriol at will have done little to alleviate a worsening situation.
“It is true that I was far from my best form at this Clasico (against JSK Kabylie), but I did not accept a supporter insulting me incessantly which hurts. ”
“I had taken my trouble patiently, and later asked him (the supporter) to calm down. I was surprised. Some people accuse me of having harmed the club and that is why I feel targeted. I would like to point out that I have great respect for the Mouloudia fans who convinced me to play here despite the offers I received,” the 24-year-old says, after two months at Mouloudia Club Alger (MC Alger).
The erstwhile JS Soaura man admits to having sleepless nights in the aftermath of the derby 5-0 drubbing.
From the look of things, supporters wouldn’t have vented their frustrations the way they did if the malaise centered around only the internal worries bedeviling the team. However, the derby coming too early –six games into the new season – and losing it 5-0 sparked outrage. Key players who fans feel were anonymous in the duel became a subject of foul-mouthed rants. The situation has led to Abderrahmane believing he’s being unfairly used as a scapegoat. For the playmaker, he’s yet to adapt and being played out of position has merely compounded the problems.
He continued: “I am not the only one responsible for the defeat, because all the players were far off their levels in this match. I’m wondering why I’m being targeted, and if I’m the problem I’m ready to go. You have to know that I came to Mouloudia to succeed and win titles, but the current conditions are not favorable and I have not yet adapted properly to the team.”
“(Coach) Casoni made me play on the flank and it is a position in which I’m not comfortable in. But with Belkhir, things have changed for me, because I am now evolving behind the attackers and this is the position where I feel comfortable. Only that I miss a little cohesion with my teammates, including Souibaah and Derrardja,” he says.
So much was spewed out following the annihilating loss to Kabylie. The players were accused of throwing away the game, a burden of claim Bourdim debunks.
According to club chairman Kamel Kaci-Said, heads needed to roll, costing, in the process, gaffer Bernard Casoni his job.
“It is inconceivable to say that the players have deliberately lost the El Classico, moreover on such a score (5-0). We have a good unit of players, and I cannot doubt my teammates.”
“Know that this is the first time I’m losing on such a score, and I have not closed my eyes in the night. I think the elimination in the Champions League was a real shock for us and the departure of Casoni put us under even more pressure.”
“We tried with Belkhir to rectify the problem and we thought we managed to get back on track after the two good results we achieved, but we now realize that the team is not ready yet and that a great job awaits us. I take this opportunity to apologize to our supporters and to tell them that what happened at our home ground was beyond our control. Supporters have to support us in these difficult times because the insults are not going to fix things. With the return of Saifi and the presence of Belkhir and the work they are doing, I am convinced that Mouloudia will come back in force. ”
With the arrival of a new coach, Alger will be hoping to right the wrongs to save their season from slipping off their grasp beginning Thursday when they host Ain M’lila. Abderrahman will be one of those whom the fans will be counting on.
