Michael Okoro

Defensive Midfielder - Katsina United
12 Feb 2031
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Michael Okoro

228 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

9 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Katsina 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.

Match

Katsina United are in real trouble now

Position 19, 25 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Solomon Onyedikachi asks to leave Katsina United

“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.

Squad

Samson Obi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samson Obi and Katsina United agree another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Katsina United count the cost of losing Chukwuma Dennis

27 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

Michael Okoro 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Shehu Musa

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shehu Musa, and the manager let it.

Market

The Innocent Arigu question follows Katsina United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Innocent Arigu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

Back issues
227 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

2 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Katsina United spell it out for the manager

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

The dugout

Sani Faisal says Katsina United went back on their word

“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.

Boardroom

The Katsina United board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

Squad

Samson Obi stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Samson Obi and Katsina United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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 dugout

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The dugout

Katsina United keep their word to Joshua Enaholo

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.

Squad

Michael Okoro loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Michael Okoro. Katsina United will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

The dugout

Michael Okoro 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.

In brief

223 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

4 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Katsina United put the manager on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Boardroom

The Katsina United board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

The dugout

Shehu Musa: 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.” Katsina United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Michael Okoro signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Okoro and Katsina United agree another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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 dugout

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The dugout

Katsina United keep their word to Sani Faisal

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.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo loses the manager who believed in him

A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Joshua Enaholo's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.

Market

The Samson Obi question follows Katsina United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Samson Obi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

217 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Katsina United boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Match

The season ends: position 19 for Katsina United

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 25 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Keegan Ndemi did the work nobody counts — 6.71

15 combined actions and 6.71. 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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.

Match

Plateau United take the points off Katsina United

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

the manager answers for it

“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.

The dugout

Isaac Akinola 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.

Player ratings

Half an hour was enough for Shehu Musa

He came on with the match going nowhere and left it settled. Katsina United had the right man on the bench, and for once the timing was right too.

In brief

212 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Katsina 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.

Squad

11 saves: Joshua Enaholo was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Katsina United

Position 19 and 21 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.

Market

Gimba Ajiji asks to leave Katsina United

“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 dugout

Calvin Dennis says Katsina United went back on their word

“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.

Transfer targets

Katsina United rebuffed over Aminu Mohammed

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kano Pillars have kept their man, and Katsina United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Katsina United

Samson Obi 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 targets

An offer of $5.0K for Victor Balogun

Katsina United have gone to Shooting Stars 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.

Match

Katsina United come up short against Rivers United

Rivers United left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

193 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

8 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Katsina United

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.

Squad

Michael Okoro stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael Okoro and Katsina United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

The goals have deserted Katsina United

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Katsina United can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Tempers go at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Samson Obi

“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 dugout

the manager: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Squad

Samson Obi suspended

One booking too many, and Samson Obi sits out. Katsina United lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.

The dugout

Gimba Ajiji has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Katsina United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Match

Katsina United draw a blank against Rivers United

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rivers United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

191 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Ahmed Olagunju: 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.” Katsina United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Samson Obi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Katsina United against Barau

0‑2 to Barau, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

the manager answers for it

“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 dugout

Katsina United pick somebody else ahead of Shehu Musa

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 ahead

A reunion for Michael Okoro

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Remo Stars in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Market

The Samson Obi story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samson Obi signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Jamilu Akinola has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Katsina United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Squad

The room hears from Ahmed Olagunju

“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Katsina United squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.

In brief

190 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Joshua Enaholo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Michael Okoro

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michael Okoro, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for Katsina United against Enyimba

0‑1 to Enyimba, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

the manager: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Market

The Innocent Arigu talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Katsina United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Gimba Ajiji has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gimba Ajiji has written the date down.

The dugout

Dennis Aribo does not fit this one

Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.

Squad

Emmanuel Bakare has taken the shirt

At 32 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Katsina United are won quietly and lost loudly.

Player ratings

Gimba Ajiji was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 8. 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.

In brief

187 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Katsina United's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Katsina United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Kwara United take the points off Katsina United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

the manager answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Joshua Enaholo

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

Player ratings

Samson Obi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 13. 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 dugout

Katsina United pick somebody else ahead of Shehu Musa

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.

Market

The Samson Obi story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samson Obi signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Jamilu Akinola has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Katsina United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

183 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Gimba Ajiji’s move to Kwara United falls through

The deal that would have taken Gimba Ajiji to Kwara United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Katsina United with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Squad

Joshua Enaholo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Katsina United come up short against Shooting Stars

Shooting Stars left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than David Obi

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.

The dugout

Gimba Ajiji knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gimba Ajiji trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

No hiding place for Dennis Aribo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dennis Aribo, and the manager let it.

Market

Samson Obi linked with a move away

The name of Samson Obi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Katsina United say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

Muhammad Suleiman beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 11. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

176 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Katsina 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Katsina United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Bakare was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Gimba Ajiji

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Katsina United told Gimba Ajiji something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo 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 Joshua Enaholo is on it.

The dugout

Michael Okoro 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.

In brief

175 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

the manager has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Katsina United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Boardroom

Emergency meeting at Katsina United

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.

Squad

Katsina United count the cost of losing Isaac Lawal

26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Joshua Enaholo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Katsina United keep their word to Ismail Muhd

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.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo without the man who signed him

Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Joshua Enaholo was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.

The dugout

Michael Okoro 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 Katsina United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Ismail Muhd story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ismail Muhd signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Market

Still no ink between Katsina United and Shehu Musa

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Katsina United, another week without a signature from Shehu Musa.

In brief

167 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Sani Faisal out for 26 days

26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Katsina United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom

the manager has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Katsina United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Boardroom

The Katsina United board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

Market

Wilfred Ihenacho puts it in writing

“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 Katsina United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Samson Obi signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samson Obi commits to Katsina United for another 2 years.

Squad

Joshua Enaholo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Katsina United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Bakare was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo without the man who signed him

Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Joshua Enaholo was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.

The dugout

Michael Okoro 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.

In brief

166 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Sani Faisal out for 34 days

34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Katsina United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The dugout

Emmanuel Bakare says Katsina United went back on their word

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Katsina United keep their word to Sani Faisal

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.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo without the man who signed him

Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Joshua Enaholo was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.

Squad

William Omeruo slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. William Omeruo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

Squad

The armband comes off Michael Okoro

Katsina 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 dugout

Michael Okoro 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 Katsina United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Innocent Arigu question follows Katsina United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Innocent Arigu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

162 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Katsina United put the manager on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

The dugout

Muhammad Suleiman says Katsina United went back on their word

“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.

Market

Oghenekaro Nwankwo asks to leave Katsina United

“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.

Boardroom

Katsina United close the window on a squad of their own making

22 in and 18 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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Katsina United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Katsina United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Michael Okoro signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Okoro and Katsina United agree another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Remo Stars tell Katsina United: Olisa Onuachu is not for sale

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Katsina United against Nasarawa United

1‑2 to Nasarawa United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

150 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Emmanuel Bakare out for 42 days

42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Katsina United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Muhammad Suleiman agrees terms with Plateau United

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Katsina United people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Match

The wait goes on for Katsina United

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Barau tell Katsina United: Chisom Chiaha is not for sale

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.

Match

Shooting Stars take the points off Katsina United

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Joshua Enaholo

“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 dugout

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 1‑3 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Joshua Enaholo

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

In brief

148 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Emmanuel Bakare

60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Katsina United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

Anger at Katsina 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.

Squad

Hadi Haruna breaks a bone — 31 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Gabriel Obafemi keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Katsina United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Joshua Enaholo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Katsina United cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Match

A bad afternoon for Katsina United against Bendel Insurance

0‑1 to Bendel Insurance, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by the manager to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

Success Makanjuola beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

145 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Emmanuel Bakare damages knee ligaments — 84 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 84 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Israel Emmanuel settles it late for Katsina United

The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Israel Emmanuel decided nobody was going anywhere. Wikki Tourists had no time left to answer.

Market

Gimba Ajiji asks to leave Katsina United

“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 dugout

Gimba Ajiji says Katsina United went back on their word

“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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Katsina United

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Player ratings

Israel Emmanuel, 34, rolls back the years — 8.16

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.16 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Katsina United end the wait against Wikki Tourists

It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Match

Katsina United see off Wikki Tourists

Three points for Katsina United, 3‑2 the final word against Wikki Tourists in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

  • Player ratings Ninety minutes of Samson Obi at his very best
  • The dugout A promise honoured for Michael Okoro
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
142 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Emmanuel Bakare out for 108 days

108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Katsina United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

No end in sight to Katsina United's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Katsina United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Words exchanged at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Katsina United

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Katsina United can tell you which week it ends in.

Match

Katsina United come up short against Abia Warriors

Abia Warriors left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Success Makanjuola runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

the manager faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Katsina United keep their word to Success Makanjuola

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.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Katsina United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

141 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Emmanuel Bakare

116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Katsina United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

10 saves: Joshua Enaholo was the team

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.

Market

Gimba Ajiji asks to leave Katsina United

“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.

Squad

Wilfred Ihenacho signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Wilfred Ihenacho commits to Katsina United for another 3 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Katsina United against Rivers United

0‑2 to Rivers United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Ahmed Olagunju steps up from the Katsina United academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ahmed Olagunju has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Katsina United promote Olayinka Osayi-Samuel from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Olayinka Osayi-Samuel has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Katsina United promote William Abacha from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. William Abacha has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

138 Edition

The Katsina United Herald

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at Katsina United

Joshua Enaholo 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.

Match

Gimba Ajiji sends Katsina United past Enyimba

It finished 1‑0, and it was Gimba Ajiji’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Katsina United.

Squad

Odion Osimhen signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Odion Osimhen and Katsina United agree another 3 years.

The dugout

the manager has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” the manager on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Joshua Enaholo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Katsina United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

The form table has caught Abeiku Amoah

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

Muhammad Suleiman 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.

Player ratings

Samson Obi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 11. 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.

Squad

The room hears from Michael Okoro

“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Katsina United squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.

In brief