Marked for Michael Acquaye
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Aug 2033
The bid was some way short and Berekum Chelsea did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market29 Aug 2033
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Berekum Chelsea people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
$160.0K settles it between the clubs for Mohammed Yahaya
Medeama have accepted the money. What Berekum Chelsea do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market29 Aug 2033
Only the photograph left for Gladson Partey
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gladson Partey will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Berekum Chelsea the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
Berekum Chelsea offered $360.0K; WAFA 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.
Squad29 Aug 2033
Seidu Abubakar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Aug 2033
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Berekum Chelsea go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
A loan move for Samuel Gyan is in the works
Berekum Chelsea have made the call to WAFA. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Aug 2033
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Great Olympics will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Aug 2033
Thomas Kyereh hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Great Olympics can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
The deal with Hasaacas 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.
Squad22 Aug 2033
Lawrence Osei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
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.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
A loan enquiry to Hearts of Oak: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
WAFA have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout22 Aug 2033
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Great Olympics, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Aug 2033
Joseph Bukari gets picked when it counts
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 Joseph Bukari is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Aug 2033
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Berekum Chelsea people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets8 Aug 2033
Berekum Chelsea have gone to WAFA 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.
Squad8 Aug 2033
Seidu Abubakar 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 Aug 2033
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Transfer targets8 Aug 2033
Berekum Chelsea offered $160.0K; Medeama 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.
Squad8 Aug 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Aug 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Heart of Lions have kept their man, and Berekum Chelsea go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Aug 2033
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edmund Wakaso commits to Berekum Chelsea for another 3 years.
Transfer targets8 Aug 2033
A loan enquiry to Hearts of Oak: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Aug 2033
The bid was some way short and Berekum Chelsea did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Aug 2033
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Berekum Chelsea people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets1 Aug 2033
Berekum Chelsea and Hasaacas have settled on $22.0K. 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.
Market1 Aug 2033
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Berekum Chelsea is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market1 Aug 2033
“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 Berekum Chelsea, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Aug 2033
Berekum Chelsea have gone to Medeama 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.
Squad1 Aug 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Aug 2033
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daouda Sidibé 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.
Transfer targets1 Aug 2033
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jul 2033
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Berekum Chelsea people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Jul 2033
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Berekum Chelsea they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market18 Jul 2033
“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.
Transfer targets18 Jul 2033
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Berekum Chelsea have done the hard part with Medeama, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets18 Jul 2033
WAFA wanted more than $350.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad18 Jul 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Jul 2033
Raihaan Anderson 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.
Market18 Jul 2033
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kwesi Sorotu Badori’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout18 Jul 2033
Gladson Partey asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jul 2033
Kofi Asante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jul 2033
Great Olympics asked and Berekum Chelsea said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets18 Jul 2033
Asante Kotoko have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets18 Jul 2033
A loan enquiry to Hearts of Oak: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad18 Jul 2033
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andre Wakaso and Great Olympics agree another 3 years.
Market18 Jul 2033
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Great Olympics know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout18 Jul 2033
Thomas Kyereh 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 Great Olympics, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Jul 2033
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Great Olympics money.
Squad18 Jul 2033
Jeffrey Acquah is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jul 2033
The bid was some way short and Berekum Chelsea did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market4 Jul 2033
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and New Edubiase United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Berekum Chelsea is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market4 Jul 2033
Daniel Afful hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Berekum Chelsea can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jul 2033
Daouda Sidibé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jul 2033
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Transfer targets4 Jul 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Berekum Chelsea go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout4 Jul 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kamaldeen Kudus, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets4 Jul 2033
A loan move for Samuel Gyan is in the works
Berekum Chelsea have made the call to WAFA. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom4 Jul 2033
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jul 2033
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kamaldeen Asante
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Great Olympics lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout4 Jul 2033
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Great Olympics may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Jul 2033
Joseph Inusah hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Great Olympics can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jul 2033
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lawrence Osei and Great Olympics agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Jul 2033
Lawrence Osei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Jul 2033
Great Olympics offered $25.0K; Berekum Chelsea 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.
Transfer targets4 Jul 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Great Olympics go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout4 Jul 2033
This is not rotation. Jeffrey Boateng has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Great Olympics is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets4 Jul 2033
A loan move for Bernard Bukari is in the works
Great Olympics have made the call to Hearts of Oak. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Jun 2033
A fracture rules Lawrence Osei out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Great Olympics will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Jun 2033
“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.
Transfer targets27 Jun 2033
The paperwork begins on Ali Loune
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Great Olympics have done the hard part with Asante Kotoko, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets27 Jun 2033
$25.0K on the table at Berekum Chelsea. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad27 Jun 2033
Lawrence Osei 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 targets27 Jun 2033
Great Olympics 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 dugout27 Jun 2033
Joseph Bukari gets picked when it counts
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 Joseph Bukari is on it.
The dugout27 Jun 2033
Soliu Olorunla 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 Great Olympics, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market27 Jun 2033
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Great Olympics know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Jun 2033
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Berekum Chelsea people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad20 Jun 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets20 Jun 2033
Berekum Chelsea asked and Medeama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad20 Jun 2033
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Transfer targets20 Jun 2033
Asante Kotoko have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets20 Jun 2033
A loan move for Mustapha Lawal is in the works
Berekum Chelsea have made the call to Hearts of Oak. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market20 Jun 2033
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kwesi Sorotu Badori’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout20 Jun 2033
Daniel Afful 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 Berekum Chelsea, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Jun 2033
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Jun 2033
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Berekum Chelsea people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets13 Jun 2033
The clubs have shaken hands with Medeama; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market13 Jun 2033
“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.
Squad13 Jun 2033
At 20, Daniel Ayew is already the best thing here
An average of 7.03 in a first team he is several years too young for. Berekum Chelsea have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Transfer targets13 Jun 2033
The offer went to Aduana Stars 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.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Seidu Abubakar 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.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets13 Jun 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Berekum Chelsea go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 May 2033
Abeiku Wakaso: 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.” Berekum Chelsea have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market2 May 2033
Joseph Atiemo hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Berekum Chelsea can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 May 2033
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Seidu Abubakar commits to Berekum Chelsea for another 3 years.
Squad2 May 2033
Seidu Abubakar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 May 2033
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Squad2 May 2033
Michael Acquaye named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Michael Acquaye is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market2 May 2033
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout2 May 2033
Albert Paintsil 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.
The dugout2 May 2033
Mohammed Gyan gets picked when it counts
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 Mohammed Gyan is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Apr 2033
Daniel Afful hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Berekum Chelsea can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Apr 2033
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.
Squad4 Apr 2033
Seidu Abubakar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Apr 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Apr 2033
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout4 Apr 2033
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout4 Apr 2033
The manager makes an example of Mohammed Gyan
“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 Apr 2033
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Player ratings4 Apr 2033
13 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Mar 2033
“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.
The dugout7 Mar 2033
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Berekum Chelsea may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Seidu Abubakar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Squad7 Mar 2033
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Michael Acquaye knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout7 Mar 2033
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout7 Mar 2033
The manager has not finished forgetting Michael Acquaye's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad7 Mar 2033
A place in the month's best eleven for Daniel Ayew
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Daniel Ayew has come out of that comparison in the side, and Berekum Chelsea have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Feb 2033
Two goals and a mark of 8.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market7 Feb 2033
Daniel Afful hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Berekum Chelsea can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Feb 2033
The deal that would have taken Michael Acquaye to Wa All Stars has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Berekum Chelsea with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2033
$660.0K settles it between the clubs for Andrew Imade
Hearts of Oak have accepted the money. What Berekum Chelsea do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Player ratings7 Feb 2033
Kamaldeen Kudus, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Boardroom7 Feb 2033
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Berekum Chelsea 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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2033
The deal with WAFA 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.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Daouda Sidibé 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Jan 2033
A 0‑7 beating by Asante Kotoko was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market31 Jan 2033
“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 Berekum Chelsea, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2033
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Medeama; Berekum Chelsea go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Match29 Jan 2033
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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2033
Everything agreed with Asante Kotoko, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad31 Jan 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Jan 2033
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Berekum Chelsea and Asante Kotoko in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Market31 Jan 2033
Wa All Stars are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Berekum Chelsea will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad31 Jan 2033
5 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Jan 2033
“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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2033
$6.0K settles it between the clubs for Andrew Gyan
Medeama have accepted the money. What Berekum Chelsea do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2033
Everything agreed with Asante Kotoko, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match22 Jan 2033
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Seidu Abubakar 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.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2033
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.
Match22 Jan 2033
Liberty Professionals left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michael Acquaye, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jan 2033
“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 Berekum Chelsea, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jan 2033
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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 Jan 2033
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daouda Sidibé 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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Berekum Chelsea go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Jan 2033
Abdul Karim is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Berekum Chelsea has been clear about where Abdul Karim stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match3 Jan 2033
18 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout3 Jan 2033
“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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2033
A loan move for Caleb Zady Sery is in the works
Berekum Chelsea have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2032
There were 10 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.
Match25 Dec 2032
0‑3 against BA All Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad27 Dec 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Dec 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kamaldeen Kudus, and the manager let it.
Boardroom27 Dec 2032
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad27 Dec 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kwadwo Atiemo and Berekum Chelsea agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout27 Dec 2032
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout27 Dec 2032
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Dec 2032
“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.
Match11 Dec 2032
5 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.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Match11 Dec 2032
Daouda Sidibé scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to WAFA, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout13 Dec 2032
The manager makes an example of Michael Acquaye
“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 dugout13 Dec 2032
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout13 Dec 2032
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Looking ahead13 Dec 2032
Medeama next, and one man in the Berekum Chelsea dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Every debut is a small story about the future: Kamaldeen Asamoah, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Dec 2032
0‑6 against Hearts of Oak, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad6 Dec 2032
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.
Match4 Dec 2032
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Berekum Chelsea are no longer polite ones.
Squad6 Dec 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Dec 2032
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Berekum Chelsea and Hearts of Oak in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad6 Dec 2032
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2032
Nobody left the Berekum Chelsea 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.
The dugout6 Dec 2032
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 0‑6 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout6 Dec 2032
Samuel Djiku gets it from the manager
“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
Squad18 Oct 2032
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match13 Oct 2032
Wa All Stars go through and Berekum Chelsea go home, 2‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings18 Oct 2032
No sign of nerves from Mohammed Gyan at 17 — 7.92
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mohammed Gyan did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout18 Oct 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Berekum Chelsea may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match16 Oct 2032
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Berekum Chelsea are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Oct 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Oct 2032
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Berekum Chelsea and Bechem United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match16 Oct 2032
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Oct 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom4 Oct 2032
Berekum Chelsea interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Match2 Oct 2032
0‑4 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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Seidu Abubakar 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 Oct 2032
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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 dugout4 Oct 2032
The manager makes an example of Seidu Abubakar
“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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gladson Owusu and Berekum Chelsea agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom4 Oct 2032
Nobody left the Berekum Chelsea 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Aug 2032
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom2 Aug 2032
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2032
The paperwork begins on Haqi Osman
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Berekum Chelsea have done the hard part with Asante Kotoko, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2032
$35.0K settles it between the clubs for Abraham Acquah
Wa All Stars have accepted the money. What Berekum Chelsea do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad2 Aug 2032
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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 dugout2 Aug 2032
This is not rotation. Gladson Amoah has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Berekum Chelsea is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Aug 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout2 Aug 2032
Michael Acquaye without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Michael Acquaye was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 2032
Rashid Sumaila breaks a bone — 149 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 149 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Jun 2032
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jun 2032
“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.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Kwesi Sorotu Badori and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2032
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.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Daouda Sidibé 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2032
A loan move for Claus Niyukuri is in the works
Berekum Chelsea have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
Michael Acquaye loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Michael Acquaye's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kamaldeen Kudus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces3 May 2032
The mood at Berekum Chelsea 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.
Boardroom3 May 2032
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Berekum Chelsea can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad3 May 2032
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Squad3 May 2032
Daouda Sidibé 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 dugout3 May 2032
“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.
Squad3 May 2032
Kamaldeen Kudus is the month’s best young player
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Berekum Chelsea will try not to make too much of it.
Squad3 May 2032
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Rashid Sumaila 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 dugout3 May 2032
Michael Acquaye asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Apr 2032
Position 13 on 28 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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2032
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Berekum Chelsea is running low.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Match24 Apr 2032
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Daouda Sidibé 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 dugout26 Apr 2032
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Kamaldeen Kudus, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Berekum Chelsea would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Apr 2032
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.
The terraces5 Apr 2032
Supporters organise against the Berekum Chelsea 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.
Boardroom5 Apr 2032
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match31 Mar 2032
Out, 1‑4 to Asante Kotoko, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad5 Apr 2032
There were 8 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.
The terraces5 Apr 2032
1-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
“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.
Match3 Apr 2032
5 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.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.