Marked for Peter Ebimobowei
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bayelsa United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Stanley Amon 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bayelsa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Bayelsa United will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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.
Market1 Oct 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bayelsa United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Wachman Joshua has moved up it.
Squad1 Oct 2029
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
Market1 Oct 2029
Rivers United had somebody in the stand with a notebook, and he was not there for the pies. Watching is free; the next step is not.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Sep 2029
38 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Market24 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owugha Tonyemiete will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bayelsa United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Sep 2029
0‑2 to Niger Tornadoes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
“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 dugout24 Sep 2029
“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.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Peter Ebimobowei will call it something else in private.
Market24 Sep 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gabriel Biriduba’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Sep 2029
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Stanley Amon
25 goals and a season average of 7.46 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market3 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rivers United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bayelsa United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Bayelsa United close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 7 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Peter Ebimobowei commits to Bayelsa United for another 1 years.
The terraces3 Sep 2029
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.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.60, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Two goals and a mark of 9.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Stanley Amon
22 goals and a season average of 7.43 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bayelsa United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
The clubs have shaken hands with Nasarawa United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Gabriel Biriduba 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.
Match28 Jul 2029
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Rangers International. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
50 goals in the shirt for Stanley Amon
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Jul 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bayelsa United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad9 Jul 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Stanley Amon
18 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market9 Jul 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bayelsa United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
The paperwork begins on Sunusi Audu
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bayelsa United have done the hard part with Nasarawa United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match7 Jul 2029
No end in sight to Bayelsa United's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bayelsa United has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Peter Ebimobowei commits to Bayelsa United for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Jun 2029
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Ikorodu City kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Bayelsa United will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
A brace, and Okardi Inikurogha takes the afternoon — 9.06
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Okardi Inikurogha provided it, and the 9.06 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
The clubs have shaken hands with Remo Stars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market2 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Precious Abidoe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bayelsa United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Gabriel Biriduba 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Peter Ebimobowei commits to Bayelsa United for another 1 years.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Solomon 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 Bayelsa United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kano Pillars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bayelsa United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad18 Jun 2029
16 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Bayelsa United asked and Katsina United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Solomon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Jun 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
The afternoon ran through Stanley Amon
Chances created: 15. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 May 2029
13 matches without a win for Bayelsa United
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Bayelsa United are no longer polite ones.
Match12 May 2029
Moses Anthony had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Niger Tornadoes were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings14 May 2029
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.51 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Atie Joseph, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.61
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market14 May 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bayelsa United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 May 2029
Gabriel Biriduba 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.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Emmanuel Solomon 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.
Match14 May 2029
Half the programme played, position 14, 21 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 May 2029
No end in sight to Bayelsa United's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bayelsa United has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces7 May 2029
Supporters organise against the Bayelsa United board
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.
The dugout7 May 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bayelsa United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 May 2029
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad7 May 2029
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Squad7 May 2029
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Hassan Oladimeji
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bayelsa United will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad7 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hassan Oladimeji commits to Bayelsa United for another 1 years.
Match5 May 2029
0‑1 to Nasarawa United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings7 May 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Mar 2029
6 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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Precious Abidoe: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bayelsa United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Gabriel Biriduba 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 terraces26 Mar 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Stanley Amon 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 ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Solomon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Mar 2029
A goal on 86 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.93 on the card, and the Bayelsa United support went home talking about one name.
Match24 Mar 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Mar 2029
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bayelsa United are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stanley Amon and Bayelsa United agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match10 Mar 2029
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Kwara United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“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 dugout12 Mar 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Godwin Akpobolouka
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.
Match10 Mar 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Half-satisfied: Edward Hunter on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market5 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bayelsa United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Mar 2029
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kenneth Sheddy and Bayelsa United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Solomon 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.
Match3 Mar 2029
The goal that put Kano Pillars ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Bayelsa United equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
“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.
Match3 Mar 2029
A 2‑2 draw with Kano Pillars leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bayelsa United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Gabriel Biriduba 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Emmanuel Solomon 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Bayelsa United will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Dec 2028
47 days out for Gabriel Biriduba after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bayelsa United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kenneth Eguavoen has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bayelsa United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Dec 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Kenneth Sheddy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Peter Ebimobowei and Bayelsa United agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Solomon 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Promise Daniel
“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 dugout4 Dec 2028
Okardi Inikurogha loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Okardi Inikurogha's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bayelsa United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Kenneth Sheddy 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 dugout25 Sep 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Precious Abidoe
“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 dugout25 Sep 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bayelsa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market25 Sep 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bayelsa United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market25 Sep 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Markson Ojobo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market25 Sep 2028
The clock does Markson Ojobo’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Bayelsa United could ask drops and the wages Markson Ojobo can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bayelsa United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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 Bayelsa United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Jul 2028
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Bayelsa United are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Jul 2028
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match29 Jul 2028
Bayelsa United are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Kenneth Sheddy 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match29 Jul 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jun 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Jun 2028
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Godwin Sunday commits to Bayelsa United for another 3 years.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Bayelsa United asked and Katsina United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Hassan Oladimeji did the work nobody counts — 6.93
9 combined actions and 6.93. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
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 Jun 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Kenneth Sheddy out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bayelsa United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Jun 2028
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.78 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
No sign of nerves from Nupe Godstime at 21 — 7.88
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nupe Godstime did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad5 Jun 2028
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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
20 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match3 Jun 2028
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Bayelsa United and Bendel Insurance in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.80, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces29 May 2028
The mood at Bayelsa 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.
Squad29 May 2028
A fracture rules Kenneth Sheddy out for 82 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bayelsa United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A brace, and Stanley Amon takes the afternoon — 9.77
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Stanley Amon provided it, and the 9.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A brace, and Peter Ebimobowei takes the afternoon — 9.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Peter Ebimobowei provided it, and the 9.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad29 May 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market29 May 2028
“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 Bayelsa United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bayelsa United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 May 2028
Stanley Amon is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.22 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
Kenneth Sheddy breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match6 May 2028
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Bayelsa United are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 May 2028
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Peter Ebimobowei, 34, rolls back the years — 8.50
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.50 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Peter Ebimobowei and Bayelsa United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The terraces8 May 2028
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.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 May 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match8 Apr 2028
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Kenneth Sheddy 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bayelsa United told Peter Ebimobowei something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Match8 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Looking ahead10 Apr 2028
Rivers United next, and one man in the Bayelsa United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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Squad27 Mar 2028
Gabriel Biriduba 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
Enyimba left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Solomon 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kenneth Eguavoen after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Promise Daniel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Feb 2028
A 0‑3 beating by Ikorodu City was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match12 Feb 2028
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kun Khalifat have kept their man, and Bayelsa United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Solomon 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Peter Ebimobowei, and the manager let it.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Bayelsa United dressing room in a hurry
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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Weke and Bayelsa United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Dec 2027
Anger at Bayelsa United spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bayelsa United is running low.
Market13 Dec 2027
“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 Bayelsa United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Markson Ojobo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bayelsa United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Dec 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bayelsa United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Gabriel Biriduba 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Don-Pedro Samuel signs something — a contract at Bayelsa United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Solomon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Nupe Godstime knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bayelsa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Bayelsa United
Position 19 and 27 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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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Squad29 Nov 2027
Kenneth Sheddy 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Emmanuel Solomon 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
33 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.