Marked for Lucky Emmanuel
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
Pressure builds in the Shooting Stars boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market20 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Muyiwa Balogun, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad20 Dec 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Ebunobi Onyedika arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ebunobi Onyedika has, at Shooting Stars, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Salomon Chigoziem 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
Moruf Umar 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 dugout20 Dec 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 Ismail Ayodele is on it.
Market20 Dec 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shooting Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Chijioke Mbaoma out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shooting Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market13 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Chijioke Mbaoma 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salomon Chigoziem, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Muyiwa Balogun 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 Muyiwa Balogun trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout13 Dec 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 Lekan Abdulsalam is on it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Shooting Stars the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Abubakar Taheer has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Charles Ribannu has his answer from Shooting Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout15 Nov 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 Lekan Abdulsalam is on it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Shooting Stars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lekan Abdulsalam trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Nov 2027
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Shooting Stars the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Oct 2027
“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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Darlintin Ovunda: 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Chijioke Mbaoma 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Salomon Chigoziem 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Muyiwa Balogun 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Lekan Abdulsalam 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
The training reports on Dillon Hoogewerf are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
Squad18 Oct 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Peter Madu has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dillon Hoogewerf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Peace Dewan 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 2027
Lucky Emmanuel named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lucky Emmanuel is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Oct 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager's exit leaves Darlintin Ovunda exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Darlintin Ovunda is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Qamar Adegoke 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 Qamar Adegoke trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Issa Yusuf moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Shooting Stars than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Sep 2027
Position 12 on 45 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.
Market20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Muyiwa Balogun commits to Shooting Stars for another 4 years.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A goal and an assist for Lucky Emmanuel — 7.91
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.91 beside his name.
Market20 Sep 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dillon Hoogewerf 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 dugout20 Sep 2027
“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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Awal Auta at his very best
Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Shooting Stars.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
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.
Market6 Sep 2027
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Shooting Stars close the window on a squad of their own making
9 in and 15 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Nobody wants to play Shooting Stars right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
An offer of $370.0K for Lius Dadong
Shooting Stars have gone to Kano Pillars 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
The chase for Awal Auta ended with $190.0K changing hands and Nasarawa United out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad6 Sep 2027
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.
The terraces6 Sep 2027
The town asked, and Shooting Stars paid $190.0K
Awal Auta was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $190.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
17 days out for Adam Mustapha after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Shooting Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market9 Aug 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Olumide Henry has agreed terms with Rangers International for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market9 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Olumide Henry
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Olumide Henry will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Aug 2027
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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Najran have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Adam Mustapha out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shooting Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shooting Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market19 Jul 2027
Mfon Rowland 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Qamar Adegoke and Shooting Stars agree another 4 years.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Mustapha Lawal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Shooting Stars asked and Kano Pillars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Lucky Emmanuel’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Shooting Stars.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
Adam Mustapha breaks a bone — 48 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Jul 2027
A 2‑0 win over El-Kanemi Warriors, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Jul 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shooting Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2027
Mfon Rowland has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jul 2027
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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zbrojovka Brno have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
Adam Mustapha breaks a bone — 70 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and El-Kanemi Warriors waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shooting Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market21 Jun 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Shooting Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match19 Jun 2027
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Shooting Stars are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Mustapha Lawal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Mfon Rowland has come up in conversations Shooting Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
77 days out for Adam Mustapha after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Shooting Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market14 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Shooting Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rangers International waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shooting Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Zbrojovka Brno, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market14 Jun 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Wikki Tourists moved on, Ozovehe Adeiza reports back to Shooting Stars, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad14 Jun 2027
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.
Match12 Jun 2027
3 matches without a goal for Shooting Stars
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
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
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Adam Mustapha out for 84 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shooting Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Jun 2027
Adam Mustapha 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shooting Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shooting Stars is running low.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Mustapha Lawal was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
Adam Mustapha breaks a bone — 99 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
Mustapha Lawal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Match22 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Qamar Adegoke. 2‑1 against Kun Khalifat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces24 May 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout24 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 May 2027
14 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.
The terraces17 May 2027
The mood at Shooting Stars 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.
Market17 May 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.
Market17 May 2027
Ozovehe Adeiza has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mustapha Lawal, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Market10 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match10 May 2027
Position 13, 22 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout10 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 0‑1 Peter Madu left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Johnmark Atule, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 May 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market3 May 2027
“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 dugout3 May 2027
Abiodun Adegoke: 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.
Market3 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 May 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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 May 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Match1 May 2027
1‑2 to Enyimba, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 dugout3 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Madu after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Apr 2027
A 2‑0 win over Bendel Insurance, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
Match24 Apr 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Shooting Stars scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Olagoke Olajobi takes the afternoon — 9.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Olagoke Olajobi provided it, and the 9.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Market26 Apr 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Mustapha Lawal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
A 2‑1 win over El-Kanemi Warriors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
50 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 7.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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 ratings12 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.86 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mustapha Lawal, and the manager let it.
Match10 Apr 2027
Late, late show earns Shooting Stars a point
Minute 93, against Plateau United, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Match10 Apr 2027
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Apr 2027
58 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Market5 Apr 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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match3 Apr 2027
After 8 games, Shooting Stars finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Rangers International; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
81 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.
Market15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Olagoke Olajobi: 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Shooting Stars did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Niger Tornadoes had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
88 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.
Market8 Mar 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abiodun Adegoke will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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 dugout8 Mar 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match6 Mar 2027
It needed Muyiwa Balogun to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Kano Pillars, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Abubakar Taheer
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Abubakar Taheer has come out of that comparison in the side, and Shooting Stars have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
95 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.
Market1 Mar 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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 ratings1 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match27 Feb 2027
A point taken on 91 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match27 Feb 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
The mood at Shooting Stars 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market22 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Ozovehe Adeiza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ozovehe Adeiza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Abubakar Taheer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Feb 2027
A 3‑2 win over Bayelsa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces22 Feb 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
110 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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 dugout15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 7.35 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Shooting Stars had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Johnmark Atule
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Peter Madu chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Abia Warriors will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
117 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.
Market8 Feb 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shooting Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market8 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abiodun Adegoke will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Cukaricki, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market8 Feb 2027
The deal that would have taken Tijani Adeloju to Rangers International has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Shooting Stars with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad8 Feb 2027
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 131 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.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters organise against the Shooting Stars 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Niger Tornadoes waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shooting Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market25 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer from Bayelsa United for Christian Dawariomi 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Only the photograph left for Ozovehe Adeiza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ozovehe Adeiza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Real Bamako keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Mustapha Lawal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Subotica have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
138 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shooting Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad18 Jan 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market18 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.
The dugout18 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Shooting Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Mustapha Lawal 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Qamar Adegoke scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Remo Stars, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kun Khalifat waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shooting Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market17 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Stephen Amos
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stephen Amos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: DAC Dunajska Streda keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Stephen Amos has agreed terms with Rivers United for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Rangers International left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Muyiwa Balogun 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
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 Peter Madu to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Aug 2026
Ghali Falke has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shooting Stars have done the hard part with DAC Dunajska Streda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Shooting Stars asked and NK Celje said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mustapha Lawal 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Henry Adeleye is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Isaac Onuachu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shooting Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kabiru Tijjani and Shooting Stars agree another 4 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mustapha Lawal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.