Jerry Alex

Right Midfielder - Kwara United
23 Feb 2031
Sunday
Process

Marked for Jerry Alex

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

Back issues
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

230 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

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

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 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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo asks for a word with the manager

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

The dugout

Sulyman Baraje 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.

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.

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo placed on the list

Kwara United have made Somtochuwku Ezenabo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The dugout

The manager makes Suraj Ayeleso a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kwara United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Boardroom

The Kwara United production line keeps running

25 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

229 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

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

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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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 Adeshina Gata 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.

The dugout

A door opens for Suraj Ayeleso

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

228 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

9 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

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

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 3 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.

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.

Market

The Abdullahi Mohammad question follows Kwara United around

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

The dugout

Sideeq Habeeb 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

227 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Philip Ozor signs on for more

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

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.

Market

Saka Abdulmajeed is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kwara United has been clear about where Saka Abdulmajeed stands, which is more than many ever get.

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Suraj Ayeleso 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

226 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

25 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

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 dugout

Sulyman Baraje 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.

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.

Market

Kwara United put Somtochuwku Ezenabo up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Somtochuwku Ezenabo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

The dugout

Suraj Ayeleso has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Suraj Ayeleso has written the date down.

In brief

223 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

4 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

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

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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

The dugout

Suraj Ayeleso 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 Suraj Ayeleso is on it.

Market

Talks stall between Kwara United and Soliu Olorunla

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief

222 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

28 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

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.

Squad

Uthman Olawumi signs a new deal

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

The dugout

Somtochuwku Ezenabo asks for a word with the manager

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

The dugout

When it matters, Sulyman Baraje 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 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.

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo placed on the list

Kwara United have made Somtochuwku Ezenabo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The dugout

Suraj Ayeleso has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Suraj Ayeleso has written the date down.

Boardroom

The Kwara United academy earns its keep

25 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.

In brief

221 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Olayinka Onyekuru 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

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 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 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.

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.

The dugout

Suraj Ayeleso has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Suraj Ayeleso has written the date down.

In brief

220 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

14 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

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

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

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

Abdulraheem Olamilekan signs on for more

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

Market

The Abdullahi Mohammad story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdullahi Mohammad signs something — a contract at Kwara United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

219 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

7 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kwara United can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Adeshina Gata stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Adeshina Gata 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. 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.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Adeshina Taiye

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Adeshina Taiye has come out of that comparison in the side, and Kwara United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

Market

No place for Ayodeji Abayomi in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ayodeji Abayomi has his answer from Kwara United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

217 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Kwara United finish in position 14

39 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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

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

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, 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

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

No hiding place for Olayinka Onyekuru

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

The dugout

Adeshina Gata left out for tactical reasons at Kwara United

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

Match

Kwara United draw a blank against Abia Warriors

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Abia Warriors defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

216 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Kwara United run riot against Rivers United

4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Player ratings

Both of them Abdullahi Mohammad's — 9.13

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.13, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

The dugout

Muhammed Alao 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.

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.

Player ratings

Adeshina Taiye, 21, steals the show — 7.96

Marked 7.96 at 21, 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

Nurudeen Badmos stands alone

6 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

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.

In brief

215 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Wikki Tourists 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

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

Ahmed Olamilekan’s goal not enough for Kwara United

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

Transfer targets

Kolawole Sheriff stays at Wikki Tourists 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; Wikki Tourists may not be selling by then.

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.

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 1‑2 Nicolò Ravelli left the room before anybody could ask which.

Player ratings

Adedeji Yeshir's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Kwara United needed to.

In brief

214 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Kwara United turn down Kun Khalifat for Somtochuwku Ezenabo

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Kwara United agree $29.0K for Kolawole Sheriff

The clubs have shaken hands with Wikki Tourists; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 7 signed and 4 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

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Kwara United and Barau in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Match

Adeshina Gata sends Kwara United past Barau

It finished 4‑2, and it was Adeshina Gata’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kwara United.

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.

Player ratings

Adeshina Gata in the eights

A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Market

Wikki Tourists join the queue for Uthman Olawumi

Add another name to the list: Wikki Tourists have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Uthman Olawumi. The answer from Kwara United has not changed — yet.

In brief

213 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

26 Aug 2030
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.

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.

Match

Uthman Olawumi’s goal not enough for Kwara United

Uthman Olawumi scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Enyimba, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

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

The crowd has taken to Abdullahi Mohammad

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abdullahi Mohammad

Marked 8.28 — 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

Nicolò Ravelli answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

212 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Kwara United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

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.

Transfer targets

Wikki Tourists tell Kwara United: Zalli Abdullahi 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.

Match

Kwara United end the wait against Warri Wolves

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.

Match

Kwara United find a way past Warri Wolves

Warri Wolves made Kwara United work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Alao 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 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.

In brief

209 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

31 days out for Oladoye Ezekiel 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.

Match

Kwara United taken apart

0‑3 to Kano Pillars, 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.

Market

Not going: Kazeem Abdulkadir stays at Kwara United

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Barau had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 27. 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.

Transfer targets

Kwara United agree $130.0K for Precious Abidoe

The clubs have shaken hands with Bayelsa United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

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

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 Muhammed Alao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

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

208 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

22 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Oladoye Ezekiel out for 38 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 terraces

The mood at Kwara United has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Market

Not going: Uthman Olawumi stays at Kwara United

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Barau had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

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

Junior Aimufua 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

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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Zalli Abdullahi

Kwara United asked and Wikki Tourists 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

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, 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

207 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

15 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Oladoye Ezekiel out for 45 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.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Kwara United

A 1‑4 beating by Ikorodu City was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 34. 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

The cup run ends for Kwara United

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

Player ratings

A brace, and Abdullahi Mohammad takes the afternoon — 9.16

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdullahi Mohammad provided it, and the 9.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Nurudeen Badmos: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty 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.

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

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.

In brief

206 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Oladoye Ezekiel breaks a bone — 52 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Chukwuma Osayi-Samuel 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

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

Mustapha Salisu signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mustapha Salisu and Kwara United agree another 4 years.

Match

Kwara United see off Katsina United

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

The terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Abdullahi Mohammad

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abdullahi Mohammad at his very best

Marked 8.48. 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

205 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The drought breaks for Kwara United

15 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kun Khalifat were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

A fracture rules Oladoye Ezekiel out for 59 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

Kazeem Abdulkadir says no to Barau

“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.

Transfer targets

$150.0K settles it between the clubs for Precious Abidoe

Bayelsa United have accepted the money. What Kwara United do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

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

Kwara United get the job done against Kun Khalifat

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

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Mustapha Salisu was the difference for Kwara United

Marked 7.87. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

204 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 Jun 2030
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.

Squad

66 days out for Oladoye Ezekiel 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 terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

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

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.

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.

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.

Transfer targets

No deal for Precious Abidoe at that price

Kwara United offered $180.0K; Bayelsa United said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Transfer targets

Kwara United rebuffed over Zalli Abdullahi

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wikki Tourists have kept their man, and Kwara United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

203 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

17 Jun 2030
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.

Squad

A fracture rules Oladoye Ezekiel out for 74 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.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Philip Ozor delivers — 7.99

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Philip Ozor scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

A muscle injury and 14 days out for Abdullahi Mohammad

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Kwara United will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Transfer targets

Kwara United make their move for Precious Abidoe

$180.0K on the table at Bayelsa United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Barau watching Uthman Olawumi

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.

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.

In brief

202 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

13 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

Oladoye Ezekiel breaks a bone — 82 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

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.

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

Transfer targets

Kwara United agree $31.0K for Kolawole Sheriff

The clubs have shaken hands with Wikki Tourists; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kazeem Abdulkadir

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kazeem Abdulkadir 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 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 Plateau United

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

In brief

201 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

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

Squad

89 days out for Oladoye Ezekiel 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

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Nnamdi Anthony

“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 Adeshina Gata at his very best

Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Adeshina Taiye

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Adeshina Taiye has come out of that comparison in the side, and Kwara United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

Match

Kwara United and Wikki Tourists 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

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Sulyman Baraje has become a man the manager trusts
  • Looking ahead Suraj Ayeleso faces his old club
200 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

27 May 2030
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.

Squad

97 days out for Oladoye Ezekiel 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 terraces

The mood at Kwara United has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

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

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

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Niger Tornadoes

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

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

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

The dugout

Nicolò Ravelli answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

199 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Oladoye Ezekiel breaks a bone — 105 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

10 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

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

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 22-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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abdullahi Mohammad

Marked 8.19 — 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.

Match

Abdullahi Mohammad rescues a point for Kwara United

It needed Abdullahi Mohammad to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Nasarawa United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

No hiding place for Abdulhameed Lukman

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

In brief

198 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

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.

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kwara United can pretend not to have heard.

Match

8 matches without a goal for Kwara United

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir 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

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Abia Warriors

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

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.

In brief

197 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nurudeen Badmos

There were 12 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

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.

Match

The goals have deserted Kwara United

7 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

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

Muhammed Alao signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Muhammed Alao and Kwara United agree another 2 years.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Rivers United

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

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.

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

196 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos wins the shoot-out

3 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Match

Kwara United through in the cup

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

Match

7 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

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.

Match

Kwara United cannot find the net

6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

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

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

195 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

22 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

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.

Match

Kwara United cannot find the net

4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex 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

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.

Squad

25 clean sheets for Nurudeen Badmos

A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Nurudeen Badmos now has 25 of them across 187 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Kwara United

Something was said to Ahmed Olamilekan and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

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.

Looking ahead

Kwara United take on the side everybody is chasing

Remo Stars arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.

In brief

194 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

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

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir 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

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.

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

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

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.

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

193 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Warri Wolves

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

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

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.

Squad

Adeshina Taiye makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

Saka Abdulmajeed 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.

Looking ahead

Philip Ozor faces his old club

Enyimba next, and one man in the Kwara United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

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

192 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

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.

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.

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

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

Rangers International 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

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.

In brief

191 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

23 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

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

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

Kwara United share the spoils with Shooting Stars

A 1‑1 draw with Shooting Stars 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.

The dugout

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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 Somtochuwku Ezenabo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Nnamdi Anthony left out for tactical reasons at Kwara United

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

Market

The Adeshina Gata question follows Kwara United around

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

In brief

190 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

32 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

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

Kazeem Abdulkadir 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

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 Kano Pillars

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

Player ratings

Adeshina Gata was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The 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 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Jimoh Gbadamosi

14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

In brief

189 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

11 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Philip Ozor out for 39 days

39 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.

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdullahi Mohammad commits to Kwara United for another 5 years.

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

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.

Match

Bayelsa United take the points off Kwara United

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

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

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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Nicolò Ravelli to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Olayinka Onyekuru 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.

Looking ahead

Jerry Alex goes back to face Kano Pillars

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jerry Alex’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Kwara United needing him to play as if none of it matters.

In brief

188 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

4 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kwara United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The terraces

The mood at Kwara United has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Match

A hiding for Kwara United

Beaten 0‑3 by Ikorodu City, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

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

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

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Alao 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 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.

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

187 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Philip Ozor damages knee ligaments — 53 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 53 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

Nnamdi Anthony pops up at the right end — 7.71

7.71, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Player ratings

Mustapha Salisu 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

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

Kwara United find a way past Katsina United

Katsina United made Kwara United work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Adeshina Gata

Marked 8.13 — 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

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.

The dugout

Ahmed Olamilekan 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 Ahmed Olamilekan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

186 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Philip Ozor out for 60 days

60 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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 33. 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.

Player ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.57

A mark of 8.57 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir 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

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 Junior Aimufua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Abdullahi Mohammad

He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

Kwara United see off Kun Khalifat

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

Squad

Oladoye Ezekiel 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.

In brief

185 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

11 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Philip Ozor damages knee ligaments — 67 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 67 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 march on in the cup

Barau are out and Kwara United go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Kwara United

A 0‑3 beating by Bendel Insurance was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Kelechi Ejuke, 18, steals the show — 8.13

Marked 8.13 at 18, 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

Suraj Ayeleso 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.

Transfer targets

Olagoke Olajobi will not be coming to Kwara United

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Shooting Stars is saying, and nobody at Kwara United is enjoying the guessing.

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

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.

The terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Sideeq Habeeb

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Sideeq Habeeb has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

184 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

74 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.

Boardroom

Nicolò Ravelli takes the Kwara United job

“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Nicolò Ravelli made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.

The terraces

Anger at Kwara United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Kwara United

0‑4 against El-Kanemi Warriors, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir has said yes to Bayelsa United

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

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.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 7 signed and 0 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.

Transfer targets

Olagoke Olajobi due for a Kwara United medical

Everything agreed with Shooting Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Transfer targets

Abdullahi Abubakar will not be coming to Kwara United

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Kano Pillars is saying, and nobody at Kwara United is enjoying the guessing.

In brief

183 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Philip Ozor damages knee ligaments — 83 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 83 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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jamilu Yusuf

Kwara United asked and Katsina United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Plateau United

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

Market

Bayelsa United join the queue for Kazeem Abdulkadir

Add another name to the list: Bayelsa United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kazeem Abdulkadir. The answer from Kwara United has not changed — yet.

The dugout

Alex Oduya: “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.

Transfer targets

Kwara United try to borrow Abdullahi Abubakar

Kano Pillars have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

182 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

90 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

Ahmed Olamilekan has said yes to Barau

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex scores twice — 8.55

Two goals and a mark of 8.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Transfer targets

Kwara United make their move for Zalli Abdullahi

$260.0K on the table at Wikki Tourists. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

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.

Match

Jerry Alex the difference as Kwara United beat Wikki Tourists

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jerry Alex. 3‑1 against Wikki Tourists, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Adeshina Taiye stays put

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

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua 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.

Transfer targets

Kwara United rebuffed over Kenneth Ademola

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Enyimba have kept their man, and Kwara United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

181 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Philip Ozor

98 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.

Transfer targets

Kelvin Akinmola due for a Kwara United medical

Everything agreed with Bendel Insurance, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Market

Kwara United turn down Barau for Uthman Olawumi

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Ahmed Olamilekan attracts admirers

The name of Ahmed Olamilekan has come up in conversations Kwara United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

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.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the Kwara United dugout

13 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.

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

Niger Tornadoes 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

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.

In brief

180 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Kwara United part company with Oche Obafemi

The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Boardroom

Alex Oduya minds the shop at Kwara United

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Alex Oduya recited it perfectly.

Market

Not going: Kazeem Abdulkadir stays at Kwara United

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Barau had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Player ratings

Ahmed Olamilekan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91

A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

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.

Boardroom

7 academy players handed senior numbers at Kwara United

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

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.

In brief

179 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

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. 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

178 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 Dec 2029
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

The manager makes an example of Somtochuwku Ezenabo

“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.

Squad

Imuran Mustapha signs on for more

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

The dugout

Adeshina Taiye 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 story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Junior Aimufua signs something — a contract at Kwara United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

The manager makes Mustapha Salisu a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kwara United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Boardroom

The Kwara United production line keeps running

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

Squad

Mustapha Salisu is not doing himself any favours

A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.

In brief

177 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Abdullahi Mohammad is the young player of the season

Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 21-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.

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.

The dugout

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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

Nurudeen Badmos linked with a move away

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

In brief

174 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

26 Nov 2029
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

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

Terem Lawal stays put

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

Market

The Junior Aimufua story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Junior Aimufua signs something — a contract at Kwara United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Nnamdi Anthony has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Nnamdi Anthony has written the date down.

Boardroom

The Kwara United production line keeps running

18 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

173 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

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 Mustapha Salisu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

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.

Market

Nurudeen Badmos linked with a move away

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

The dugout

Saka Abdulmajeed 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

172 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Kwara United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

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

Ahmed Olamilekan 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 Ahmed Olamilekan is on it.

Market

Abdullahi Mohammad linked with a move away

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

The dugout

A door opens for Mustapha Salisu

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

171 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

5 Nov 2029
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

No hiding place for Adeshina Taiye

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

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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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 Somtochuwku Ezenabo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Adeshina Gata 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

170 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

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 Muhammed Alao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mustapha Salisu

“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.

Squad

Kazeem Abdulkadir signs a new deal

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

The dugout

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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 Somtochuwku Ezenabo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Junior Aimufua story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Junior Aimufua signs something — a contract at Kwara United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

167 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

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

Muhammed Alao signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Muhammed Alao and Kwara United agree another 2 years.

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

Abdullahi Mohammad is the month’s best young player

At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Kwara United will try not to make too much of it.

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.

Market

The Adeshina Gata 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

166 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

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

The Junior Aimufua story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Junior Aimufua signs something — a contract at Kwara United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Squad

Suraj Ayeleso is not saying it is over

“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 38 with 108 appearances behind him, and Kwara United have to plan for both answers.

Squad

Aboubacar Camara remains an outsider

A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Kwara United would admit. It shows on Saturdays.

Boardroom

The Kwara United production line keeps running

18 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

165 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Kwara United

Beaten 0‑3 by Abia Warriors, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Match

The season ends: position 16 for Kwara United

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 32 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

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.

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

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.

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 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 0‑3 Oche Obafemi left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

164 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Abdullahi Mohammad at 21 — 8.39

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdullahi Mohammad did not need any: 8.39, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

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.

The terraces

Kwara United supporters have found a favourite in Abdullahi Mohammad

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-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

The manager makes an example of Somtochuwku Ezenabo

“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.

Match

Kwara United see off Rivers United

Three points for Kwara United, 1‑0 the final word against Rivers United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Alao 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

Nurudeen Badmos shuts the door again

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

In brief

163 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Jerry Alex 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

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.

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

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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos shuts the door again

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

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 Oche Obafemi to a room that had heard them before.

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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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 Somtochuwku Ezenabo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

162 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Cruel end for Barau as Kwara United pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Kwara United scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Player ratings

Both of them Adeshina Gata's — 9.02

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Abdullahi Mohammad, 21, steals the show — 8.54

Marked 8.54 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

The dugout

Imuran Mustapha: 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.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 9 signed and 3 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.

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

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 3 years.

Match

At last: Kwara United win one

7 matches without a win, and then this, against Barau. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

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.

In brief

160 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

20 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Kwara United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Match

Warri Wolves punish Kwara United for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Junior Aimufua will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Kwara United escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Abdullahi Mohammad at 21 — 8.10

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdullahi Mohammad did not need any: 8.10, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

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.

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.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Kwara United walk away from Godswill Utum

$260.0K was the most the club would pay and Katsina United were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

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: Abdullahi Mohammad

He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Market

Kazeem Abdulkadir attracts admirers

The name of Kazeem Abdulkadir has come up in conversations Kwara United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

In brief

159 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

13 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.

Transfer targets

Kwara United make their move for Godswill Utum

$260.0K on the table at Katsina United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

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 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.

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

The manager makes an example of Nnamdi Anthony

“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.

Match

Rangers International take the points off Kwara United

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

Squad

Another clean sheet for Nurudeen Badmos

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

The dugout

Oche Obafemi: “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.

In brief

158 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

6 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

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

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. Terem Lawal 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

Abdullahi Mohammad is the division's best young player this month

At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Kwara United will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Squad

Babatunde Bright signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Babatunde Bright commits to Kwara United for another 1 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

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Oche Obafemi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Kwara United dressing room was either.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Somtochuwku Ezenabo

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

The dugout

Terem Lawal 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.

In brief

157 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

30 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Kwara United make their move for Godswill Utum

$260.0K on the table at Katsina United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

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

Kano Pillars 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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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

Oche Obafemi 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

Getting past Nurudeen Badmos has become the hardest job in the division

8 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

In brief

156 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Kwara United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Abdullahi Mohammad at 21 — 8.03

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdullahi Mohammad did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex 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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Abdullahi Mohammad

At 21 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.

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

Kwara United share the spoils with Bayelsa United

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

The dugout

Oche Obafemi: “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 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

The dugout

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

In brief

155 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Jerry Alex was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 27. 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.

Transfer targets

$220.0K settles it between the clubs for Godswill Utum

Katsina United have accepted the money. What Kwara United do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Ikorodu City

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

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. 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.

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 3 years.

The dugout

Oche Obafemi faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oche Obafemi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

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.

The dugout

Ahmed Olamilekan 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

153 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

15 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

Nobody could get near Jerry Alex

Successful dribbles: 46. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Yusuf Ayinde: 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.

The dugout

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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

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

No hiding place for Oladoye Ezekiel

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

Squad

Suraj Ayeleso signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Suraj Ayeleso and Kwara United agree another 1 years.

In brief

152 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

25 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

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

14 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.

The terraces

The mood at Kwara United has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Match

Kwara United taken apart

0‑5 to Bendel Insurance, 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

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.

Match

The goals have deserted Kwara United

3 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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Alao 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.

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.

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 0‑5 Oche Obafemi left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

150 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

12 matches without a win for Kwara United

The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos keeps Kwara United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

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

Adeshina Taiye 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.

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 makes an example of Somtochuwku Ezenabo

“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

Oche Obafemi: “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

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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos shuts the door again

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

In brief

149 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

4 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

11 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

Abdulraheem Olamilekan 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.

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

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. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

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

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Kwara United had all but put away. Wikki Tourists will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Squad

Sideeq Habeeb signs on for more

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

Transfer targets

Kwara United ask about Favour Bala

A loan enquiry to Plateau United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

148 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Kwara United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

The wait goes on for Kwara United

10 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

Yusuf Ayinde signs on for more

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

Player ratings

Jerry Alex runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

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

A falling-out at Kwara United

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

Market

Terem Lawal steps up from the Kwara United academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Terem Lawal 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

Akinkunmi Awaziem steps up from the Kwara United academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Akinkunmi Awaziem 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

Kenneth Abacha steps up from the Kwara United academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kenneth Abacha 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.

In brief

146 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

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.

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

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 Muhammed Alao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Mustapha Salisu

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

Match

Kwara United at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 17, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Oche Obafemi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Kwara United dressing room was either.

The dugout

Abdulhameed Lukman is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

In brief

145 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.

The dugout

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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

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.

Player ratings

Junior Aimufua runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Rivers United take the points off Kwara United

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

Squad

100 appearances for Nnamdi Anthony

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

Squad

Suraj Ayeleso signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Suraj Ayeleso commits to Kwara United for another 1 years.

In brief

144 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Kwara United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

Kwara United taken apart

0‑4 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.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stands alone

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

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

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

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

Oladoye Ezekiel 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.

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.

In brief

143 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Junior Aimufua

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

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.

The dugout

Adedeji Yeshir 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

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

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Barau

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

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.

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 Oche Obafemi left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Kwara United

Something was said to Soliu Olorunla and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

142 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

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.

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

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Enyimba

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

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.

Player ratings

Jerry Alex beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Oche Obafemi answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

Abdulraheem Olamilekan: “I am not a substitute”

“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Kwara United will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

The dugout

Somtochuwku Ezenabo 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.

In brief

141 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nurudeen Badmos 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.

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.

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

Adeshina Gata reaches 50 goals

50 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Soliu Olorunla

“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 Adeshina Gata at his very best

Marked 8.06. 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 share the spoils with Warri Wolves

A 1‑1 draw with Warri Wolves leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

140 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Kwara United has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Nurudeen Badmos stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nurudeen Badmos and Kwara United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Kwara United

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

Match

A bad afternoon for Kwara United against Rangers International

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

Player ratings

Jerry Alex 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.

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mustapha Salisu

“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

Oche Obafemi answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Somtochuwku Ezenabo

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Somtochuwku Ezenabo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Kwara United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

139 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

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.

Match

Kwara United come up short against Shooting Stars

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

Player ratings

Philip Ozor beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Oche Obafemi faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Oche Obafemi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

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

Mustapha Salisu 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

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.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Abdulhameed Lukman

Nobody at Kwara United is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

In brief