Marked for Gabriel Lekan
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Hassan Olubode and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stephen Awaziem is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Kun Khalifat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Lekan 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kun Khalifat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Kun Khalifat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Blessed Iyamu 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Lekan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Solomon Odoemenam and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Okoh, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Onuorah Onyedika is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Hassan Olubode 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Gabriel Lekan 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by El-Kanemi Warriors, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
James Ebuka is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kun Khalifat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Kun Khalifat dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michael Musa after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Lekan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Kun Khalifat lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Blessed Iyamu, 21, steals the show — 8.19
Marked 8.19 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abah Chinonso is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Michael Akano 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 terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Blessed Iyamu 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Stanley Nnanna was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Lekan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Kun Khalifat's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kun Khalifat has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 6.81 on 17 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Kun Khalifat asked and Enyimba said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Abdullahi Sadiq has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tega Ebetomane commits to Kun Khalifat for another 3 years.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Gabriel Lekan 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Solomon Odoemenam 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Michael Musa after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ugochukwu Akuta
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Bayelsa United 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Kun Khalifat had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Remo Stars, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Hassan Olubode 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ebere Onuachu has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Leon Ebuehi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Joshua Oduya is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gabriel Lekan commits to Kun Khalifat for another 4 years.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.