The mood at Bechem United has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bechem United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Augustine Okrah and Bechem United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Daniel Partey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Kofi Tompuo 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 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Bechem United will try not to make too much of it.
The dugout4 Dec 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 Abeiku Schlupp left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
Dennis Votere is still being punished for one mistake
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bechem United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 The request is on a desk at Bechem United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bechem United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Isaiah Nyarko 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 21 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.
Minute 88, against Ashanti Gold, 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bechem United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Bechem United can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bechem United 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 Bechem United 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 Kofi Tompuo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuel Ayinebire Atubga and Bechem United agree another 4 years.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Musa Hamzata is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Ikenna Nkwazema is in the works
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bechem United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Tusker for Kabu Agyemang Raymond was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bechem United have done the hard part with Asante Kotoko, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Bechem United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hubert Gyau is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bechem United can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasco Abassah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bechem United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with New Edubiase United 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.
$140.0K on the table at Hasaacas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Daniel Partey 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.
Bechem United asked and Hasaacas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Hubert Gyau 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 not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Bechem United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
In brief
The dugoutFrank Amankwah asks for a word with the manager
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bechem United can pretend not to have heard.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bechem United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Bechem United and New Edubiase United have settled on $3.0K. 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.
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Kofi Tompuo 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kwadwo Mensah has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bechem United can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Aduana Stars 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.
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. New Edubiase United have kept their man, and Bechem United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kofi Tompuo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kwadwo Mensah has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Bechem United, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Augustine Okrah and Bechem United agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Hubert Gyau 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bechem United will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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 Kabu Agyemang Raymond is on it.
In brief
The dugoutRaymond Agyemang loses the manager who believed in him
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emmanuel Ababio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bechem United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Owusu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Charles Owusu is on it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Raymond Agyemang was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aiman Riahi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniel Partey signs something — a contract at Bechem United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bechem United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Kofi Tompuo 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emmanuel Ababio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bechem United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Daniel Partey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Kofi Tompuo 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Augustine Okrah was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
In brief
The dugoutKofi Tompuo asks for a word with the manager
Position 16 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frank Amankwah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 15 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Ayinebire Atubga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bechem United 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 Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Bechem United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hubert Gyau 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kwadwo Mensah after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Bechem United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bechem United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Bechem United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Hearts of Oak, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The offer from Hasaacas for Foster Sakitey 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bechem United is running low.
The name of Kabu Agyemang Raymond has come up in conversations Bechem United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kofi Tompuo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bechem United has been clear about where Augustine Okrah stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
Player ratingsIsaiah Nyarko beats them one at a time
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bechem United 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 Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.33 — 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Bechem United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Owusu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kabu Agyemang Raymond, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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.” Kwadwo Mensah kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bechem United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bechem United 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 Bechem United 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 Kofi Tompuo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 20 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Augustine Okrah and Bechem United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Kofi Tompuo 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.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Bechem United had all but put away. New Edubiase United will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Godfred Yawson 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutDennis Votere asks for a word with the manager
0‑3 to Asante Kotoko, 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.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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 Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
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 0‑3 Kwadwo Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Bechem United were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
“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 Bechem United, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Emmanuel Abban is living that version at Bechem United, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 13 gone
That is the business done at Bechem United 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The deal that would have taken Foster Sakitey to BA All Stars has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Bechem United with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Bechem United asked and Asante Kotoko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kwadwo Paintsil 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.
1‑4 to Medeama, 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bechem United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Daniel Partey 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 Mar 2027
Hubert Gyau 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.
Medeama held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Bechem United answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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 Kwadwo Mensah to a room that had heard them before.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Augustine Okrah and Bechem United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Daniel Partey 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Hubert Gyau 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Bechem United, and 7 appearances in 30 say he has earned the hearing.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Kwadwo Mensah after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.