A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kwara United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Olamilekan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kwara United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jerry Alex 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 Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Abdullahi Mohammad is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kwara United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Nnamdi Anthony 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 Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kwara United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Junior Aimufua 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdulraheem Olamilekan has his answer from Kwara United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kwara United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jerry Alex 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.
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 Abdullahi Mohammad is on it.
Squad1 Nov 2032
Yusuf Ayinde 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kwara United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jerry Alex 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 Junior Aimufua 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kwara United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kwara United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Muhammed Alao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Aderigbide Saheed is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kwara United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ahmed Olamilekan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kwara United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdulhameed Lukman and Kwara United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Abdullahi Mohammad is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ola Ademola
9 combined actions and 6.74. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
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 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.
22 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings13 Sep 2032
Kelechi Ejuke, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.82
A mark of 7.82 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kelechi Ejuke will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kwara United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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.
He is 20 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.
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 Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 12 gone
That is the business done at Kwara United 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.
Jerry Alex 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 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.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Philip Ozor will call it something else in private.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jerry Alex 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.
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.
Squad30 Aug 2032
Muhammed Alao 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.
Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Two goals and a mark of 9.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Nicolò Ravelli on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutJerry Alex has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Kazeem Abdulkadir's mistake
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kwara United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kazeem Abdulkadir had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aderigbide Saheed and Kwara United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
0‑3 against Shooting Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Jerry Alex 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Wikki Tourists have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kelechi Ejuke. The answer from Kwara United has not changed — yet.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout2 Aug 2032
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kwara United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everything agreed with Katsina United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdullahi Mohammad. 3‑1 against Kano Pillars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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 phone has started ringing about Ahmed Olamilekan again, and this time the name on the line is Niger Tornadoes. Kwara United are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Wikki Tourists had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Jerry Alex 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.
1‑3 to Ikorodu City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Jul 2032
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Katsina United had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Jerry Alex 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 phone has started ringing about Kazeem Abdulkadir again, and this time the name on the line is Wikki Tourists. Kwara United are listening politely and promising nothing.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kwara United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑3 against Bendel Insurance, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wikki Tourists waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Jerry Alex 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.
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.
7 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.
Jerry Alex 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.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
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 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Wisdom Faruk is in the works
6 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Niger Tornadoes left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 May 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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 performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout24 May 2032
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Nasarawa United the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Kwara United will enjoy reviewing.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdullahi Mohammad provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
Jerry Alex 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 Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 12, 22 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kazeem Abdulkadir and Kwara United agree another 4 years.
The dugout10 May 2032
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 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
In brief
The dugoutNurudeen Badmos has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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 dugout3 May 2032
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.” Nicolò Ravelli chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
A 1‑0 win over Rivers United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings26 Apr 2032
Wilfred Ogunjobi, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-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 Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Wilfred Ogunjobi 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.
48 shut-outs in 269 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Salisu 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jerry Alex 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Imuran Mustapha and Kwara United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Apr 2032
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 Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
Looking aheadKwara United take on the side everybody is chasing
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdullahi Mohammad provided it, and the 9.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Jerry Alex 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 easiest signature of my career.” Oladoye Ezekiel and Kwara United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Apr 2032
Jerry Alex was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Junior Aimufua 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.
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 words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.57 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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 2‑0 win over Shooting Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.62 — 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmed Olamilekan, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
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.” Nicolò Ravelli, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Kano Pillars. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad15 Mar 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Salisu 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Abdullahi Mohammad had Kwara United level again within 4 minutes, and Kano Pillars never got to play with a lead at all.
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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adeshina Taiye and Kwara United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Jerry Alex 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 Mar 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
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 Jerry Alex is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Jerry Alex 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.
0‑2 to Ikorodu City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Mar 2032
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Abdullahi Mohammad is on it.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Feb 2032
Jerry Alex was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Kwara United had all but put away. Katsina United will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Nicolò Ravelli after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutStephen Okocha asks for a word with the manager
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ahmed Olamilekan and Kwara United agree another 4 years.
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.
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 Nurudeen Badmos is on it.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
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.” Nicolò Ravelli chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 98th minute. Wikki Tourists will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Jerry Alex 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Uthman Olawumi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Uthman Olawumi and Kwara United agree another 4 years.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Boardroom2 Feb 2032
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at Kwara United 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Kwara United will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Kwara United will try again when the window opens; Bayelsa United may not be selling by then.
The dugout2 Feb 2032
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 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 7.53, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bayelsa United have kept their man, and Kwara United 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdullahi Mohammad 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.
6 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.
Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jan 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
Kwara United asked and Warri Wolves said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 Nurudeen Badmos is on it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Kwara United and Bayelsa United have settled on $57.0K. 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.
Jerry Alex 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 Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 6.74, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stephen Sadiq and Kwara United agree another 3 years.
“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 Kwara United, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Jerry Alex 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.
15 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ahmed Onuachu 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Chidozie Osayi-Samuel has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gabriel Ihenacho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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.
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 Abdullahi Mohammad is on it.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adeshina Taiye commits to Kwara United for another 4 years.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Salisu 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.
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 Nurudeen Badmos is on 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 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Salisu 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.
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 Abdullahi Mohammad is on it.
Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Jerry Alex 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jerry Alex 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Jerry Alex 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.
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 Jerry Alex is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Aimufua and Kwara United agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Kwara United than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kwara United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑3 against Abia Warriors, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
Jerry Alex 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.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
Jerry Alex 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdullahi Mohammad 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.
0‑3 against Remo Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
Boardroom8 Sep 2031
Nobody left the Kwara United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
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.
307 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Kwara United know what they have.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Kwara United 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.
Nnamdi Anthony 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nicolò Ravelli could afford to be generous.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Wilfred Ogunjobi did not need any: 7.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Jerry Alex 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.
9 goals in one match, Kazeem Abdulkadir on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Kwara United and Enyimba.
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. Kazeem Abdulkadir 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 dugout25 Aug 2031
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 4‑5 defeat, delivered by Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.
Beaten 5 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Kun Khalifat had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Jerry Alex 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 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.
Marked 8.23 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdulwahab Abdulsamad and Kwara United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Add another name to the list: Kun Khalifat have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmed Olamilekan. The answer from Kwara United has not changed — yet.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings11 Aug 2031
Jerry Alex was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdulhameed Mubaraq and Kwara United agree another 4 years.
Minute 96, against Rangers International, 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.
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.
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.
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Wilfred Ogunjobi decided nobody was going anywhere. Shooting Stars had no time left to answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Wilfred Ogunjobi 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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Jerry Alex 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 Mustapha Salisu 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Barau waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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 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 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nicolò Ravelli after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
BoardroomKwara United sign 7 boys into the academy
Successful dribbles: 53. 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.
Jerry Alex 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nicolò Ravelli was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Kwara United dressing room was either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kwara United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Kun Khalifat defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Katsina United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kwara United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
9 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jerry Alex 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.
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.
0‑3 against El-Kanemi Warriors, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
8 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.
“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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ahmed Olamilekan had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nurudeen Badmos signs something — a contract at Kwara United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Add another name to the list: Wikki Tourists have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmed Olamilekan. The answer from Kwara United has not changed — yet.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Kwara United can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
0‑3 to Nasarawa United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
0‑3 to Abia Warriors, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 14, 19 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
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.
Jerry Alex was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Rivers United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 May 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mustapha Salisu 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.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Stephen Okocha is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nobody at Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Something was said to Kelechi Osayi-Samuel and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
0‑3 to Remo Stars, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Jerry Alex 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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Mustapha Salisu and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 dugout21 Apr 2031
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.” Nicolò Ravelli chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
Looking aheadThe leaders are next for Kwara United
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdullahi Mohammad provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Nnamdi Anthony scored, was marked 7.54, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Jerry Alex 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.
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Kwara United had all but put away. Rangers International will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A 2‑1 win over Shooting Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
At 23 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.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
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.” Nicolò Ravelli kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nicolò Ravelli was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Kwara United dressing room was either.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kwara United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Jerry Alex 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 easiest signature of my career.” Abdulhameed Lukman and Kwara United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Junior Aimufua. 2‑1 against Bayelsa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 22 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.
Jerry Alex 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 Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kelechi Ejuke will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kwara United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Nnamdi Anthony 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to Katsina United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
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 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Kwara United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mustapha Salisu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uthman Olawumi provided it, and the 9.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Kelechi Ejuke, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.58
A mark of 8.58 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.
Jerry Alex 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 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.
In brief
SquadMustapha Salisu falls out with a teammate over standards
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Jerry Alex 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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 dugout3 Feb 2031
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Wilfred Ogunjobi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
1 for Nnamdi Anthony, marked 7.64, 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oladoye Ezekiel and Kwara United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Oladoye Ezekiel 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdullahi Mohammad. 1‑0 against Wikki Tourists, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nicolò Ravelli could afford to be generous.
The offer from Rivers United for Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Warri Wolves waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Add another name to the list: Barau have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ahmed Olamilekan. The answer from Kwara United has not changed — yet.
Jerry Alex 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.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Aimufua 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.” Kelechi Ejuke and Kwara United agree another 3 years.