Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
A brace, and Adama Goïta takes the afternoon — 8.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adama Goïta provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Kun Khalifat for Alex Oyowah was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 3‑2 win over Barau, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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 ratings10 Jan 2028
Samson Olasupo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.85. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Adama Goïta has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Samuel Anakwe 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 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.
Nobody at Remo 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Remo Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samson Olasupo 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.
Samuel Anakwe 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 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Remo Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samson Olasupo 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.
Samuel Anakwe 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 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Adama Goïta is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
SquadFrank Angong has become a man the manager trusts
2‑5 against Rangers International, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Samuel Anakwe on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Remo Stars and Rangers International.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samson Olasupo 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.
Marked 8.46 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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.
Marked 8.70 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
10 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
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.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Frank Angong 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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.
Samson Olasupo wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Samson Olasupo found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Bendel Insurance went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Samuel Anakwe 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samson Olasupo. 3‑2 against Bendel Insurance, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Victor Mbaoma 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Victor Mbaoma was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.91. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Samson Olasupo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.86. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Octavio Zapata 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Victor Mbaoma 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Serge Obassa knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Remo Stars has been clear about where Samson Olasupo stands, which is more than many ever get.
12 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Frank Angong 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.
Rivers United left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raúl Quiroga 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.
Marked 8.54 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A conversation is coming this week. Remo Stars will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Robert Mizo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Remo Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Warri Wolves had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Remo Stars did not stop to explain themselves.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Mark Gibson, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.88
A mark of 8.88 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Raúl Quiroga 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Adama Goïta has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Samson Olasupo at his very best
The bid was some way short and Remo Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A first appearance Adama Goïta will want to forget — 5.61
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.61, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
The phone has started ringing about Ahmed Akinyele again, and this time the name on the line is Esbjerg. Remo Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Mbaoma 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.