Jerry Alex

Right Midfielder - Kwara United
8 Dec 2032
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Jerry Alex

332 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

6 Dec 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

82 days out for Adeshina Gata after a fracture

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.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Muhammed Alao

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.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

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Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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.

In brief

Back issues
331 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Nov 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Adeshina Gata breaks a bone — 89 days out

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.

Squad

Muhammed Alao damages knee ligaments — 112 days out

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ahmed Olamilekan

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad gets picked when it counts

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

329 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

15 Nov 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

105 days out for Adeshina Gata after a fracture

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.

The dugout

Isaac Ogu says Kwara United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

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The dugout

Jerry Alex has become a man the manager trusts

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.

In brief

328 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Nov 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Adeshina Gata out for 113 days

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.

The dugout

Abdulhameed Lukman: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

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Squad

Yakub Ahmed signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yakub Ahmed and Kwara United agree another 3 years.

The dugout

When it matters, Aderigbide Saheed plays

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.

Market

No place for Abdulraheem Olamilekan in the plan

“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.

In brief

327 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Nov 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

120 days out for Adeshina Gata after a fracture

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.

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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 dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad gets picked when it counts

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.

Squad

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.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kazeem Abdulkadir has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Kwara United.

In brief

326 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

25 Oct 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Adeshina Gata out for 128 days

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.

The dugout

Ola Ademola says Kwara United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

When it matters, Nurudeen Badmos plays

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 dugout

Kazeem Abdulkadir is still paying for one afternoon at Kwara United

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

325 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

18 Oct 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

135 days out for Adeshina Gata after a fracture

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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 dugout

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Squad

Abdulraheem Olamilekan signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdulraheem Olamilekan commits to Kwara United for another 2 years.

The dugout

When it matters, Jerry Alex plays

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.

In brief

324 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

11 Oct 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Adeshina Gata out for 142 days

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.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

The dugout

Aderigbide Saheed gets picked when it counts

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.

In brief

323 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

4 Oct 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

150 days out for Adeshina Gata after a fracture

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ahmed Olamilekan

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.

Squad

12 seasons of Adeshina Gata

346 appearances across 12 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Kwara United know what they have.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Abdulhameed Lukman stays put

“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.

The dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad gets picked when it counts

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

321 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

20 Sep 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Kwara United finish in position 17

36 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Abia Warriors take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Adeshina Gata did the work nobody counts — 6.74

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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 dugout

Nicolò Ravelli answers for it

“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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos shuts the door again

8 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.

In brief

320 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

13 Sep 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abdullahi Mohammad

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 ratings

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kelechi Ejuke

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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 terraces

One of their own: Kelechi Ejuke

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.

The dugout

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In brief

319 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

6 Sep 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

7 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan is on his way

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.

Boardroom

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Kwara United

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.

Squad

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Remo Stars

Remo Stars left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Philip Ozor left out for the big one

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.

In brief

318 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

30 Aug 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Uthman Olawumi: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

Barau take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

When it matters, Nurudeen Badmos plays

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.

Squad

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.

Looking ahead

The leaders are next for Kwara United

Remo Stars top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.

Squad

A ban for Jimoh Gbadamosi

One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Kwara United lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.

In brief

317 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Aug 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Katsina United come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Kwara United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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.

Match

Enyimba take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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The dugout

No hiding place for Philip Ozor

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Philip Ozor, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli answers for it

“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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Another clean sheet for Nurudeen Badmos

8 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Nurudeen Badmos has given nobody the chance.

In brief

316 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Aug 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad scores twice — 9.19

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.

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad is carrying Kwara United

22 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

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.

Match

Kwara United see off Warri Wolves

Three points for Kwara United, 2‑1 the final word against Warri Wolves in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli has his say

“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

315 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

9 Aug 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Kelechi Ejuke has said yes to Wikki Tourists

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.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir says no to Katsina United

“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.

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan is on his way

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.

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad is carrying Kwara United

20 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Rangers International

Rangers International left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Aderigbide Saheed stays put

“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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Nurudeen Badmos

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Jerry Alex at his very best

Marked 8.28. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

In brief

314 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Aug 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Kwara United

0‑3 against Shooting Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nurudeen Badmos

There were 7 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.

Squad

9 seasons of Muhammed Alao

167 appearances across 9 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Kwara United know what they have.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Market

Wikki Tourists join the queue for Kelechi Ejuke

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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Kwara United

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 dugout

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.

Market

The Kazeem Abdulkadir conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Katsina United will make the call about Kazeem Abdulkadir this week. Kwara United have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

313 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

26 Jul 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Abdulhameed Lukman damages knee ligaments — 17 days out

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.

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan has said yes to Niger Tornadoes

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.

Squad

3 goals for Abdullahi Mohammad

The match ball belongs to Abdullahi Mohammad, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.30 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Mohammed Ummale due for a Kwara United medical

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abdullahi Mohammad at his very best

Marked 9.71. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

Match

Abdullahi Mohammad the difference as Kwara United beat Kano Pillars

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.

In brief

312 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

19 Jul 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Abdulhameed Lukman damages knee ligaments — 24 days out

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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nurudeen Badmos

There were 7 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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Market

Eyes on Ahmed Olamilekan again

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abdullahi Mohammad

16 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

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Player ratings

One of those days for Abdullahi Mohammad

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

311 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

12 Jul 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Abdulhameed Lukman damages knee ligaments — 31 days out

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.

Match

The cup run ends for Kwara United

1‑2 against Remo Stars, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Market

Not going: Kazeem Abdulkadir stays at Kwara United

“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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.22 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Ikorodu City

1‑3 to Ikorodu City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

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.

In brief

310 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

5 Jul 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Abdulhameed Lukman damages knee ligaments — 39 days out

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.

Market

Not going: Ahmed Olamilekan stays at Kwara United

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Philip Ozor signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Philip Ozor commits to Kwara United for another 2 years.

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad is carrying Kwara United

14 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Eyes on Kazeem Abdulkadir again

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.

Boardroom

Intake day at the Kwara United academy

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.

Match

Kwara United and Katsina United take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

308 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

21 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Abdulhameed Lukman out for 54 days

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.

Match

9 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Kwara United

0‑3 against Bendel Insurance, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

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Squad

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Philip Ozor

“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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Kwara United

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.

In brief

307 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

14 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Terms done: Ahmed Olamilekan is going

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.

Match

8 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

6 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against El-Kanemi Warriors

El-Kanemi Warriors left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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.

Transfer targets

Warri Wolves tell Kwara United: Wisdom Faruk is not for sale

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Abdulhameed Lukman

“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.

In brief

306 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

7 Jun 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

The dugout

Michael Onuachu keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kwara United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Jimoh Gbadamosi signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jimoh Gbadamosi commits to Kwara United for another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Plateau United

Plateau United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

The Ahmed Olamilekan conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Wikki Tourists will make the call about Ahmed Olamilekan this week. Kwara United have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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 dugout

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

305 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

31 May 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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 dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos shuts the door again

8 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.

The dugout

Jerry Alex has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

Half-satisfied: Nicolò Ravelli on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ola Ademola

“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.

In brief

304 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 May 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 dugout

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Match

Kwara United come up short against Niger Tornadoes

Niger Tornadoes left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Nurudeen Badmos

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad in the eights

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 dugout

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

In brief

303 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

17 May 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Kwara United throw away a 2-goal lead

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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdullahi Mohammad takes the afternoon — 8.76

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.

Player ratings

Adeshina Gata, 33, rolls back the years — 7.80

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United share the spoils with Nasarawa United

A 2‑2 draw with Nasarawa United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Muhammed Alao

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammed Alao, and the manager let it.

In brief

302 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

10 May 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Nnamdi Anthony in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Abia Warriors

Abia Warriors left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Match

Kwara United at the halfway mark

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.

Squad

Kazeem Abdulkadir signs on for more

“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 dugout

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.

Player ratings

One moment undoes Aderigbide Saheed

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

301 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

3 May 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

7 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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 dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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.

Squad

Jerry Alex reaches 200 appearances

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Abdullahi Mohammad

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Jerry Alex has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Abdulwahab Abdulsamad

“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 dugout

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

300 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

26 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stands alone

11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Cup progress for Kwara United

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 ratings

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 dugout

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Match

Adeshina Gata’s goal not enough for Kwara United

Adeshina Gata scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Remo Stars, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Wilfred Ogunjobi

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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos makes it 48 clean sheets

48 shut-outs in 269 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.

Squad

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.

In brief

299 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

19 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Stephen Okocha: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

No hiding place for Jimoh Gbadamosi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jimoh Gbadamosi, and the manager let it.

Match

Barau take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Imuran Mustapha stays put

“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 dugout

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.

The dugout

The form table has caught Michael Onuachu

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

298 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

12 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

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.

Match

Abdullahi Mohammad leads the rout of Enyimba

4‑1, and Abdullahi Mohammad took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Kwara United tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdullahi Mohammad takes the afternoon — 9.66

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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Oladoye Ezekiel stays put

“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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Junior Aimufua

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Nnamdi Anthony

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 ratings

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.

In brief

297 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

5 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

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.

Squad

10 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Player ratings

Both of them Abdullahi Mohammad's — 9.16

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.16, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

The dugout

Sulyman Baraje says Kwara United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Vintage Adeshina Gata — 7.98

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.98, and nobody on the pitch better.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Match

Kwara United see off Warri Wolves

Three points for Kwara United, 2‑1 the final word against Warri Wolves in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

  • Squad Mustapha Salisu falls out with a teammate over standards
  • Match No time for Warri Wolves to settle
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
296 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad was unplayable

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Rangers International

Rangers International left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

When it matters, Abdullahi Mohammad plays

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Abdulhameed Mubaraq

“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.

In brief

295 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

22 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Philip Ozor damages knee ligaments — 39 days out

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.

Squad

9 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Player ratings

Adeshina Gata, 33, rolls back the years — 8.57

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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.

Match

Kwara United get the job done against Shooting Stars

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ahmed Olamilekan

“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 dugout

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.

In brief

294 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

15 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Vintage Adeshina Gata — 7.83

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.83, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad in the eights

A performance of 9.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Abdullahi Mohammad sends Kwara United past Kano Pillars

It finished 3‑2, and it was Abdullahi Mohammad’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kwara United.

Match

At last: Kwara United win one

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.

Squad

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.

Match

Abdullahi Mohammad answers Kano Pillars immediately

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

293 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

6 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Adeshina Taiye stays put

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

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 dugout

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The dugout

No hiding place for Muhammed Alao

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammed Alao, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Jerry Alex gets picked when it counts

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.

In brief

292 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Abdulraheem Olamilekan damages knee ligaments — 17 days out

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.

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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 dugout

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Squad

Junior Aimufua 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Ikorodu City

0‑2 to Ikorodu City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

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.

The dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad gets picked when it counts

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

291 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Abdulwahab Abdulsamad damages knee ligaments — 21 days out

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 ratings

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.

Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ahmed Olamilekan

“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.

Match

Kwara United share the spoils with Katsina United

A 1‑1 draw with Katsina United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli on the point

“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

290 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdulwahab Abdulsamad

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Ahmed Olamilekan signs on for more

“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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Nnamdi Anthony

A mark of 7.44, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

The dugout

Nurudeen Badmos gets picked when it counts

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 dugout

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.

Match

Kwara United and Kun Khalifat cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Kun Khalifat came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

289 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

9 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Sideeq Habeeb beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 46. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Abdulraheem Olamilekan damages knee ligaments — 38 days out

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.

Match

Kwara United through in the cup

A 1‑0 win over Wikki Tourists, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Match

Kwara United win it in stoppage time

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.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Uthman Olawumi

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.

Squad

Uthman Olawumi signs on for more

“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.

In brief

288 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdulraheem Olamilekan

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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nurudeen Badmos

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.

Boardroom

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A muscle injury and 17 days out for Philip Ozor

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.

The dugout

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Match

Kwara United come up short against El-Kanemi Warriors

El-Kanemi Warriors left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Transfer targets

Preye Rufus stays at Bayelsa United as time runs out

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 dugout

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

287 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

26 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdulraheem Olamilekan

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Jerry Alex — 7.53

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.

Match

Kwara United end the wait against Plateau United

It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Transfer targets

Kwara United rebuffed over Preye Rufus

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

Match

Kwara United see off Plateau United

Three points for Kwara United, 2‑0 the final word against Plateau United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Abdullahi Mohammad

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

286 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

19 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Wisdom Faruk

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.

Squad

Kelechi Ejuke signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kelechi Ejuke commits to Kwara United for another 3 years.

The dugout

Nurudeen Badmos gets picked when it counts

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 dugout

Half-satisfied: Nicolò Ravelli on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

Philip Ozor does not fit this one

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.

In brief

285 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

12 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Preye Rufus

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.

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Niger Tornadoes

0‑1 to Niger Tornadoes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Adeshina Gata ran the middle of the pitch — 6.74

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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 dugout

Nicolò Ravelli answers for it

“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.

Squad

Stephen Sadiq signs on for more

“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.

In brief

284 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

5 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Aboubacar Camara puts it in writing

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Kwara United

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.

Squad

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.

Market

Ahmed Onuachu steps up from the Kwara United academy

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.

Market

Kwara United promote Chidozie Osayi-Samuel from within

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.

Market

One of our own: Gabriel Ihenacho joins the Kwara United first team

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.

In brief

283 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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 dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad gets picked when it counts

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 dugout

No hiding place for Ola Ademola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ola Ademola, and the manager let it.

In brief

282 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

22 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Adeshina Taiye signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adeshina Taiye commits to Kwara United for another 4 years.

Squad

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 dugout

Nurudeen Badmos gets picked when it counts

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 dugout

Abdulhameed Lukman asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Junior Aimufua question follows Kwara United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Junior Aimufua’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

280 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Abdulhameed Mubaraq says Kwara United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

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The dugout

When it matters, Jerry Alex plays

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.

Market

The Nurudeen Badmos question follows Kwara United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nurudeen Badmos’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

279 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

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 dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad gets picked when it counts

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.

Market

Adeshina Gata linked with a move away

The name of Adeshina Gata keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Kwara United say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

278 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Abdulhameed Lukman says Kwara United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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 dugout

When it matters, Nurudeen Badmos plays

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.

Market

The Junior Aimufua question follows Kwara United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Junior Aimufua’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Boardroom

The Kwara United production line keeps running

33 graduates out of an academy now rated 9 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.

In brief

277 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

17 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

When it matters, Abdulhameed Mubaraq plays

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.

In brief

276 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

10 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Mustapha Salisu: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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 dugout

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In brief

275 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

3 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

Jimoh Gbadamosi signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jimoh Gbadamosi commits to Kwara United for another 2 years.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

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 dugout

When it matters, Abdullahi Mohammad plays

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.

In brief

272 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

13 Oct 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

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The dugout

The manager makes an example of Muhammed Alao

“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 dugout

Jerry Alex gets picked when it counts

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.

Market

The Nurudeen Badmos question follows Kwara United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nurudeen Badmos’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

271 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

6 Oct 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Muhammed Alao says Kwara United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

The dugout

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Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua signs on for more

“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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

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 dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

Stephen Okocha asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

Stephen Okocha moves up the pecking order

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.

In brief

270 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Yusuf Ayinde signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yusuf Ayinde commits to Kwara United for another 3 years.

The dugout

Nurudeen Badmos has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

Abdulhameed Lukman knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kwara United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Junior Aimufua question follows Kwara United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Junior Aimufua’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

269 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

22 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Kwara United

0‑3 against Abia Warriors, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Match

Kwara United finish in position 17

30 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

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 dugout

No hiding place for Nurudeen Badmos

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nurudeen Badmos, and the manager let it.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos makes it 200

200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

Boardroom

Inquest at Kwara United

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.

In brief

268 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

15 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Rivers United

1‑3 to Rivers United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

The dugout

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Player ratings

One of those days for Abdullahi Mohammad

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Abdulhameed Lukman gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

267 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nurudeen Badmos

There were 9 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.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Kwara United

0‑3 against Remo Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

11 seasons of Adeshina Gata

308 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Kwara United know what they have.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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 dugout

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Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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.

Boardroom

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.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

266 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

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.

Squad

11 seasons of Adeshina Gata

307 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Kwara United know what they have.

Boardroom

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United get the job done against Barau

A 1‑0 win over Barau, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Jerry Alex

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

A satisfied Nicolò Ravelli

“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.

Market

Abdulhameed Mubaraq told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Abdulhameed Mubaraq has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Kwara United.

In brief

265 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

25 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Both of them Kazeem Abdulkadir's — 8.92

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.92, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Wilfred Ogunjobi at 19 — 7.86

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.

Match

Kazeem Abdulkadir’s goal not enough for Kwara United

Kazeem Abdulkadir scored, and precious little else went right: 4‑5 to Enyimba, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kazeem Abdulkadir among the goals in a wild afternoon

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Kazeem Abdulkadir

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 dugout

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.

Squad

A long afternoon for Nurudeen Badmos

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.

In brief

264 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

18 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Not going: Ahmed Olamilekan stays at Kwara United

“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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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 terraces

One of their own: Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

The dugout

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Squad

200 appearances for Junior Aimufua

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Abdulwahab Abdulsamad stays put

“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.

In brief

263 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

11 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Kun Khalifat join the queue for Ahmed Olamilekan

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.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 ratings

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.

Squad

Abdulhameed Mubaraq signs on for more

“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.

Match

Late, late show earns Kwara United a point

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.

Player ratings

Nnamdi Anthony was unplayable

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.

Match

Honours even between Kwara United and Rangers International

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

262 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

4 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Kwara United end the wait against Shooting Stars

It had gone 15 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Match

Wilfred Ogunjobi settles it late for Kwara United

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.

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan has one foot out of the door

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.

Player ratings

Wilfred Ogunjobi, 19, steals the show — 7.62

Marked 7.62 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Wilfred Ogunjobi

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.

The dugout

Jimoh Gbadamosi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

261 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

28 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Kano Pillars

0‑1 to Kano Pillars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

No hiding place for Muhammed Alao

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammed Alao, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

When it matters, Nurudeen Badmos plays

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.

Squad

A ban for Abdulhameed Lukman

One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Kwara United lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.

In brief

260 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

21 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

14 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Market

Terms done: Ahmed Olamilekan is going

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

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Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Adeshina Gata at his very best

Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

Match

Honours even between Kwara United and Bayelsa United

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

When it matters, Jerry Alex plays

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.

In brief

258 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

7 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

11 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Market

Barau come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Kwara United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Muhammed Alao signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Muhammed Alao commits to Kwara United for another 2 years.

Match

Katsina United take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Kun Khalifat expected to open talks for Ahmed Olamilekan

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Kwara United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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 dugout

Nicolò Ravelli faces the questions

“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

257 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

30 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

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 dugout

Nurudeen Badmos has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

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.

The dugout

Stephen Okocha knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kwara United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Match

Kwara United draw a blank against Kun Khalifat

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.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Mustapha Salisu

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.

In brief

256 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan agrees terms with Barau

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

The dugout

Muhammed Alao: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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.

Match

Ahmed Olamilekan’s goal not enough for Kwara United

Ahmed Olamilekan scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Bendel Insurance, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

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The dugout

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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

255 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Kwara United

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir turns Barau down

“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.

Match

6 matches without a goal for Kwara United

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.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nurudeen Badmos

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nurudeen Badmos, and the manager let it.

Squad

Philip Ozor reaches 200 appearances

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.

Squad

Mustapha Salisu 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.

In brief

254 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

9 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan says no to Wikki Tourists

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

5 matches without a goal for Kwara United

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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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.

Match

Plateau United take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

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.

Market

The Nurudeen Badmos story refuses to die

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.

In brief

253 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

6 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Market

Wikki Tourists join the queue for Ahmed Olamilekan

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.

Match

The goals have deserted Kwara United

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Sideeq Habeeb signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sideeq Habeeb commits to Kwara United for another 3 years.

The dugout

Nurudeen Badmos has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “We have to be better”

“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.

In brief

251 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

19 May 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Kwara United taken apart

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.

Squad

8 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

No hiding place for Muhammed Alao

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammed Alao, and the manager let it.

In brief

250 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

12 May 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Kwara United taken apart

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

No hiding place for Nurudeen Badmos

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nurudeen Badmos, and the manager let it.

Match

Kwara United at the halfway mark

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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Alege Mahee stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alege Mahee and Kwara United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

249 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

5 May 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Rivers United

Rivers United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

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 dugout

Nicolò Ravelli answers for it

“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.

Squad

Stephen Okocha named in the team of the month

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.

The dugout

Nurudeen Badmos has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

A promise honoured at Kwara United

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.

In brief

248 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

28 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Aderigbide Saheed sends Kwara United through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Aderigbide Saheed obliged against Rivers United. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Kwara United.

Squad

9 saves: Nurudeen Badmos was the team

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.

Match

Kwara United taken apart

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.

Match

Remo Stars end the Kwara United run at 8

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

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 terraces

One of their own: Abdulhameed Mubaraq

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.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Aderigbide Saheed at his very best

Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

In brief

247 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

21 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Match

Whatever happens, Kwara United do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Ahmed Olamilekan makes it 100

100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Kwara United

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Abdullahi Mohammad plays

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 dugout

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

244 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

31 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdullahi Mohammad takes the afternoon — 8.96

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.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Nnamdi Anthony delivers — 7.54

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Junior Aimufua 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 dugout

Nurudeen Badmos gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

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Player ratings

One of those days for Jerry Alex

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

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.

In brief

243 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke is on his way

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Kwara United get the job done against Shooting Stars

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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abdullahi Mohammad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Abdullahi Mohammad plays

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.

In brief

242 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

17 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Jerry Alex at his very best

Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

Match

Kwara United and Kano Pillars take a point apiece

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 dugout

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ola Ademola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ola Ademola, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

The one thing Abdullahi Mohammad could not do

Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Market

The Junior Aimufua talk will not go away

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.

In brief

241 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

10 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Abdulhameed Lukman stays put

“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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

Junior Aimufua the difference as Kwara United beat Bayelsa United

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.

The terraces

One of their own: Kazeem Abdulkadir

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.

Player ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad in the eights

A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Muhammed Alao gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.

In brief

240 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

3 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

4 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Nnamdi Anthony signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nnamdi Anthony commits to Kwara United for another 4 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Ikorodu City take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Ahmed Olamilekan

“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 dugout

Nicolò Ravelli: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

239 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Only the photograph left for Kelechi Ejuke

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Katsina United

0‑1 to Katsina United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

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 dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Wilfred Ogunjobi

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.

The dugout

Abdullahi Mohammad has become a man the manager trusts

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 dugout

Mustapha Salisu knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mustapha Salisu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

237 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

10 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Abdulhameed Mubaraq runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Cup progress for Kwara United

A 4‑0 win over Wikki Tourists, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Uthman Olawumi takes the afternoon — 9.07

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 ratings

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.

Squad

Wilfred Ogunjobi signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Wilfred Ogunjobi commits to Kwara United for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Match

Bendel Insurance take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The terraces

One of their own: Abdulhameed Mubaraq

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

236 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

3 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stands alone

9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 8 in, 5 out at Kwara United

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Kwara United

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

El-Kanemi Warriors take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

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 dugout

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.

Squad

Wilfred Ogunjobi named in the team of the month

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.

In brief

235 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

27 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nurudeen Badmos

There were 7 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.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Kwara United — 7.64

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.

Market

Nasarawa United watching Somtochuwku Ezenabo

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Kwara United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Kelechi Osayi-Samuel asks to leave Kwara United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Kelechi Ejuke has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

Jerry Alex and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Oladoye Ezekiel stays put

“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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Match

Nnamdi Anthony’s goal not enough for Kwara United

Nnamdi Anthony scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Plateau United, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • Player ratings Jerry Alex beats them one at a time
  • Market The Adeshina Gata story refuses to die
234 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

20 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan turns Barau down

“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.

Squad

Jerry Alex in a row with a teammate

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 ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

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.

Squad

Ahmed Olamilekan signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ahmed Olamilekan commits to Kwara United for another 4 years.

The terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Oladoye Ezekiel

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.

Match

Abdullahi Mohammad the difference as Kwara United beat Wikki Tourists

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abdullahi Mohammad

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 dugout

A satisfied Nicolò Ravelli

“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.

In brief

233 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

13 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Kwara United say no — this time

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.

Market

Terms done: Kelechi Ejuke is going

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.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

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.

Market

Barau join the queue for Ahmed Olamilekan

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

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.

Match

Niger Tornadoes take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

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.

Squad

Kelechi Ejuke signs on for more

“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.

In brief