Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bendel Insurance will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Bayelsa United the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Bendel Insurance will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
A brace, and Uche Collins takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uche Collins provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7.56, 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bendel Insurance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kun Khalifat have kept their man, and Bendel Insurance go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadWords at Bendel Insurance training over how hard people work
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Oke Kayode at his very best
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bendel Insurance will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A brace, and Uche Collins takes the afternoon — 8.57
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uche Collins provided it, and the 8.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bendel Insurance have lost him in all but the paperwork.
$730.0K 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bendel Insurance have done the hard part with Kano Pillars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Chinedu Nwosu 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Temitope is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Christian Molokwu is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bendel Insurance know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bendel Insurance lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Bendel Insurance will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Chinedu Nwosu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Temitope is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Bendel Insurance 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bendel Insurance know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Position 5 on 64 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anthony Cletus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bendel Insurance lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anthony Cletus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bendel Insurance the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Oke Kayode and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Temitope is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Bendel Insurance 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.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bendel Insurance lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Temitope was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Rangers International to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bendel Insurance and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 44 matches say the rest.
Nobody at Bendel Insurance will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bendel Insurance have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Chinedu Nwosu 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.
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 Christian Molokwu is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bendel Insurance know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Temitope was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Uche Collins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bendel Insurance know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 5 on 64 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anthony Cletus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bendel Insurance the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Oke Kayode and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chinedu Nwosu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Plateau United spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Chinedu Nwosu did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything agreed with Kano Pillars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vincent Temitope and Bendel Insurance agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chinedu Nwosu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A 2‑1 win over Plateau United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Oke Kayode and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Temitope 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.
Marked 8.51 — 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Uche Collins.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bendel Insurance people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Kano Pillars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
14 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Chinedu Nwosu 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.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
A brace, and Uche Collins takes the afternoon — 8.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uche Collins provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The clubs have shaken hands with Barau; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
Oke Kayode and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Temitope was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Chinedu Nwosu 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chinedu Nwosu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 9.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Oke Kayode 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Uche Collins. 3‑2 against Shooting Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Oke Kayode was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.65. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Onyia Henry 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.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Temitope was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Tobi Ige 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 ratings17 Apr 2028
Uche Collins was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.57. 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.
8.46. 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.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobi Ige 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Moses Tsehuan has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ibrahim Eze on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutOke Kayode has become a man the manager trusts
0‑2 to Warri Wolves, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Ibrahim Sabiu 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.
“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 dugout21 Feb 2028
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 Ibrahim Eze left the room before anybody could ask which.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Bendel Insurance lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bendel Insurance lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kun Khalifat moved on, Victor Torisheju reports back to Bendel Insurance, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Bendel Insurance close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bendel Insurance lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bendel Insurance people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bendel Insurance can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Nasarawa United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bendel Insurance people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Oke Kayode 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 ratings17 Jan 2028
Uche Collins was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Onyia Henry 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.
Minute 97, against Ikorodu City, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Oke Kayode and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Nwokeji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Bendel Insurance 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anthony Cletus and Bendel Insurance agree another 3 years.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Nwokeji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anthony Cletus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Uche Collins will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Bendel Insurance escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bendel Insurance can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Uche Collins and Bendel Insurance agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Nwokeji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bendel Insurance can pretend not to have heard.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Bendel Insurance close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 7 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
$180.0K 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.
Oke Kayode and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Nwokeji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bendel Insurance asked and Niger Tornadoes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bendel Insurance have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The offer went to Barau this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Katsina United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
The deal with Kano Pillars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Samson Obi 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.
Marked 8.27 — 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 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.
A point taken on 95 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Bendel Insurance had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ikorodu City, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $290.0K for Ezekiel Oroh, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oke Kayode. 2‑0 against Niger Tornadoes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Katsina United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Uche Collins’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Katsina United.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Faisal 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.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bendel Insurance has to find a result from somewhere.
Oke Kayode 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Katsina United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wikki Tourists waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Katsina United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Katsina United asked and Bayelsa 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kun Khalifat waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Katsina United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
$310.0K settles it between the clubs for Ezekiel Oroh
Warri Wolves have accepted the money. What Katsina United do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Joshua Enaholo 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.
Haruna Attah scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Barau, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Sani Faisal 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.
“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.
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.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bendel Insurance has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Katsina United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A brace, and Uche Collins takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uche Collins provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Katsina United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bendel Insurance, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Samson Obi 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.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bendel Insurance has to find a result from somewhere.
Oke Kayode 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Barau had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Kun Khalifat for Joshua Enaholo 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.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Bendel Insurance will try not to make too much of it.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Uche Collins’s exile
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Katsina United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Katsina United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ismail Muhd 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Faisal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bendel Insurance can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Warri Wolves for Efe Obiomo 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.
Everything agreed with Nasarawa United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bendel Insurance this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bendel Insurance asked and Kano Pillars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Katsina United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Katsina United have done the hard part with Kano Pillars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” David Babatunde after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abba Dali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Moses Adikwu is on it.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Katsina United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Bayelsa United kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Bendel Insurance will be asked about the last half hour all week.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bendel Insurance has to find a result from somewhere.
Two goals and a mark of 8.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bendel Insurance people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Barau is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Samson Obi 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
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.
Oke Kayode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Nwokeji 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.
Katsina United held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Bendel Insurance answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad24 May 2027
Sani Faisal 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.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Katsina United lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
A 1‑1 draw with Bendel Insurance leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” David Babatunde was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Katsina United dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Innocent Arigu's mistake
“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 Bendel Insurance, and it is not being withdrawn.
Oke Kayode 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.
0‑1 to Kun Khalifat, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 May 2027
Chinedu Nwosu 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ibrahim Eze after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
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.
Abdullahi Shehu 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Katsina United can tell you which week it ends in.
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abba Dali 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. El-Kanemi Warriors defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Joshua Enaholo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Faisal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Minute 88, against Niger Tornadoes, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
Abdullahi Shehu 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.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Sani Faisal 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 David Babatunde left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Katsina United deserved better, and so did he.
Rivers United next, and one man in the Katsina United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Joshua Enaholo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, David Babatunde could afford to be generous.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Katsina United this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abba Dali is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Katsina 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
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Uche Collins