Marked for Stephen Amos
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2027
Stephen Amos 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 2027
Adam Mustapha 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 dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Mustapha, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muyiwa Balogun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
Half-satisfied: Victor Simon on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout31 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Match29 May 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Kun Khalifat came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead31 May 2027
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.
The dugout31 May 2027
The plan did not have a place for Lucky Emmanuel
Nobody at Shooting Stars is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Match1 May 2027
El-Kanemi Warriors left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout3 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Victor Simon left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad3 May 2027
One booking too many, and Adam Mustapha sits out. Shooting Stars lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout3 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Looking ahead3 May 2027
Enyimba next, and one man in the Shooting Stars dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2027
Lucky Emmanuel damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Stephen Amos 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Adam Mustapha 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 terraces5 Apr 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match3 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Qamar Adegoke. 1‑0 against Wikki Tourists, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muyiwa Balogun 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
7.68, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Shooting Stars had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Qamar Adegoke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muyiwa Balogun 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Muyiwa Balogun
“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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Kabiru Tijjani 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Wikki Tourists next, and one man in the Shooting Stars dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market29 Mar 2027
Shooting Stars have let the market know Olumide Henry can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Wikki Tourists, position 18, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 Mar 2027
Issa Yusuf 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Match20 Mar 2027
0‑2 to Kwara United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Johnmark Atule 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Victor Simon left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Kabiru Tijjani 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 Shooting Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Tunde Azeez 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 8. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Abayomi Adebayo damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Stephen Amos 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Adam Mustapha 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Ribannu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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 Abiodun Adegoke is on it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ismail Ayodele'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abayomi Adebayo
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 Feb 2027
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Shooting Stars are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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 targets8 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Barau, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muyiwa Balogun, and the manager let it.
In brief
-
The dugout
Abiodun Adegoke gets picked when it counts
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
Kabiru Tijjani asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abayomi Adebayo
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Shooting Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Ganiyu Wasiu has gone, the accounts have $140.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market11 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The deal with Remo Stars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abiodun Adegoke and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Johnmark Atule is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Adam Mustapha 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
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Abayomi Adebayo damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Johnmark Atule and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Qamar Adegoke has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sheriff Amuda, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abayomi Adebayo
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tijani Adeloju and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Idowu Aremu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Adam Mustapha 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Adam Mustapha 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 Adam Mustapha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Abayomi Adebayo damages knee ligaments — 130 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Abubakar Taheer 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mfon Rowland commits to Shooting Stars for another 4 years.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Adam Mustapha'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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Mustapha Lawal 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 Mustapha Lawal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Tijani Al-Almeen: 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.” Shooting Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Abubakar Taheer 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Promise Awosanmi
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Shooting Stars will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Ozovehe Adeiza, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tijani Al-Almeen and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Shooting Stars will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Idowu Aremu, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 Ismail Ayodele is on it.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Shooting Stars, another week without a signature from Idowu Aremu.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Stephen Amos 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.