“The easiest signature of my career.” Lalas Abubakar and Aduana Stars agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Lalas Abubakar was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johnson Amuzu 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Remember Adomako Boateng trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Abubakar Adams is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Inter Allies in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Aduana Stars, another week without a signature from Tapelo Xoki.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Aduana Stars could ask drops and the wages Benjamin Tsivanyo can ask rise.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Quarcoo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alex Boakye.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Johnson Amuzu 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Quarcoo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Aduana Stars know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Okiemute Odah and Aduana Stars agree another 1 years.
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.
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.
Efa Enabulele 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yussif Mubarik and Aduana Stars agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Johnson Amuzu 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Johnson Amuzu 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Samuel Kuffour has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
It needed Peter Amidu Acquah to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Wa All Stars, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
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.” Nana Boakye chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Johnson Amuzu. 1‑0 against Ashanti Gold, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 7.72. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Nana Boakye, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Aduana Stars have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxwell Arthur will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aduana Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Tapelo Xoki 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 Oct 2028
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aduana Stars has been clear about where Isaac Mintah stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aduana Stars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Okiemute Odah: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Hasaacas go through and Aduana Stars go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 7.09, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tapelo Xoki 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 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
7 new faces, and Aduana Stars are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gregory Sekyere knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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.
In brief
The dugoutTapelo Xoki knocks on the manager's door
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.
“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 Aduana Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Tapelo Xoki 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.
6 goals in one match, Peter Amidu Acquah on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Aduana Stars and Hasaacas.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Peter Amidu Acquah 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Peter Amidu Acquah is living that version at Aduana Stars, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johnson Amuzu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aduana Stars ran out of time with Ashanti Gold. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aduana Stars has been clear about where Samuel Kuffour stands, which is more than many ever get.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Aduana Stars know which stage they are at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Aduana Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aduana Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Aduana Stars until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aduana Stars have done the hard part with Ashanti Gold, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The deal that would have taken Boa-At Regain to Heart of Lions has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Aduana Stars with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The offer went to Medeama this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bernard Bukari 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and WAFA waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aduana Stars have done the hard part with Ashanti Gold, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohammed Bamba and Aduana Stars agree another 3 years.
Aduana Stars have made the call to Hasaacas. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Aduana Stars have done the hard part with Medeama, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Johnson Amuzu 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.
Aduana Stars asked and Inter Allies said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Bendel Insurance 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.
$150.0K on the table at Liberty Professionals. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ashanti Gold have kept their man, and Aduana Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aduana Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Efa Enabulele 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.
$66.0K was the most the club would pay and Hearts of Oak were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
Aduana Stars have made the call to Bendel Insurance. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Aduana 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Aduana Stars are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Aduana Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kofi Asante will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aduana Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Kofi Asante has agreed terms with Inter Allies for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Aduana Stars have gone to Hearts of Oak 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.
Efa Enabulele 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 terraces10 Jul 2028
Aduana Stars spend $940.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $940.0K for Johnson Amuzu, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Jul 2028
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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.
Isaac Mintah 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Maxwell Arthur is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Aduana Stars offered $150.0K; Liberty Professionals said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Aduana Stars and Berekum Chelsea have settled on $940.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aduana Stars asked and Ashanti Gold said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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.
Asante Kotoko have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Benjamin Tsivanyo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aduana Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Asante Kotoko, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Berekum Chelsea have kept their man, and Aduana Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Efa Enabulele 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aduana Stars have made the call to Ashanti Gold. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The deal with Asante Kotoko 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Benjamin Tsivanyo has his answer from Aduana Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Bechem United will make the call about Boa-At Regain this week. Aduana Stars have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Aduana Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
SquadRaised voices on the training ground at Aduana Stars
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Boa-At Regain
The dugoutDavid Oppong has become a man the manager trusts
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Samuel Kuffour 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 Aduana 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stephen Amankona signs something — a contract at Aduana Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
In brief
BoardroomThe Aduana Stars production line keeps running
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Aduana Stars
SquadHadi Haruna is training like a man with a point to make
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aduana Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Efa Enabulele 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Kuffour trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Aduana 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.” Aduana Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abubakar Adams and Aduana Stars agree another 4 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Samuel Kuffour 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 May 2028
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yussif Mubarik 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.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aduana Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxwell Arthur will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aduana Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Samuel Kuffour 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Dankyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stephen Amankona signs something — a contract at Aduana Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aduana Stars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aduana Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 11 on 36 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.
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.
A mark of 7.94 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Efa Enabulele 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 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.
Minute 85, against Berekum Chelsea, 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aduana Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Remember Adomako Boateng 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Nana Boakye on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Aduana Stars told Bismark Anim something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutAlex Boakye asks for a word with the manager
Looking aheadA test against the best for Aduana Stars
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Everybody at Aduana Stars saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.11, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The goal that put Inter Allies ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Aduana Stars equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aduana Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Blankson Anoff and Aduana Stars agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑0 win over Bechem United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aduana Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Samuel Kuffour’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Aduana Stars needing him to play as if none of it matters.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aduana Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Efa Enabulele 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.” Aduana Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
1‑3 to Liberty Professionals, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Aduana 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Stephen Badu 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isaac Mintah, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nana Boakye was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aduana Stars dressing room was either.
Efa Enabulele 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Aduana Stars can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuel Kuffour, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nana Boakye was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aduana Stars dressing room was either.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Ashanti Gold? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” BA All Stars had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Aduana Stars until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Elvis Addo 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bechem United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aduana Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Kuffour and Aduana Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Efa Enabulele 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 name of Abubakar Adams has come up in conversations Aduana Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Aduana Stars asked and Rivers United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
$1.0M was the most the club would pay and Berekum Chelsea were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Aduana Stars and Hasaacas, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Add another name to the list: WAFA have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Maxwell Arthur. The answer from Aduana Stars has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Medeama have kept their man, and Aduana Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Blankson Anoff provided it, and the 8.06 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Aduana Stars have gone to Berekum Chelsea 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aduana Stars asked and Wa All Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aduana Stars has been clear about where Alex Boakye stands, which is more than many ever get.
A 0‑2 win over Berekum Chelsea, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Samuel Kuffour 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 phone has started ringing about Abubakar Adams again, and this time the name on the line is Asante Kotoko. Aduana Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohammed Bamba 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.
In brief
SquadAbubakar Adams is the division's best young player this month
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout27 Dec 2027
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 Nana Boakye to a room that had heard them before.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Kuffour trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Berekum Chelsea.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abubakar Adams did not need any: 7.98, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
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 dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nana Boakye kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bechem United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Dec 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 Nana Boakye left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxwell Arthur 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Bismark Anim
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.
Nobody at Aduana 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.
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aduana Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Up for the corner, and Alex Boakye delivers — 7.79
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alex Boakye scored, was marked 7.79, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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 20 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1 for Alex Boakye, marked 7.79, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Blankson Anoff. 2‑1 against Liberty Professionals, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nana Boakye kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Stephen Badu 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Remember Adomako Boateng and Aduana Stars agree another 4 years.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gregory Sekyere, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxwell Arthur 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
David Oppong 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 dugout22 Nov 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.” Nana Boakye chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Efa Enabulele 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 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gregory Sekyere trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Charles Gyamfi Kamara is on it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Nana Boakye to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Beaten 4 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Marked 6.29 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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 Nana Boakye to a room that had heard them before.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxwell Arthur 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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emmanuel Marfo provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aduana Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 19 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Emmanuel Marfo in the middle of it, and BA All Stars unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nana Boakye kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
A 2‑1 win over New Edubiase United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Aduana Stars scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Stephen Badu 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.
He is 21 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.
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.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Kuffour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibrahim Iddrisu and Aduana Stars agree another 1 years.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Aduana Stars, another week without a signature from Efa Enabulele.
Marked 7.74 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Aduana Stars had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nana Boakye kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Efa Enabulele 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Benjamin Asiedu Kwesi has just signed for Aduana Stars, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Aduana Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Kuffour 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Nana Boakye after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.