David Obasanjo

Goalkeeper - Mara Sugar
3 Apr 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for David Obasanjo

35 Edition

The Shabana Post

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Cliff Nyakeya damages knee ligaments — 20 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 20 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

A brace, and James Mazembe takes the afternoon — 8.73

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. James Mazembe provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

No end in sight to Shabana's wait for a win

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

Squad

David Odoyo 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.

Loan watch

David Obasanjo has seen enough of Mara Sugar

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Shabana, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Shabana share the spoils with Nairobi United

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

Squad

Justine Nyangwara 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

Bryan Michira runs at them all day

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.

Squad

Shabana pick somebody else ahead of Brian Junior Olega

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

Back issues
31 Edition

The Shabana Post

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Cliff Nyakeya damages knee ligaments — 48 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 48 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

Mark Okola asks to leave Shabana

“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

David Odoyo 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 Shabana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

George Onyango 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.

Loan watch

David Obasanjo has seen enough of Mara Sugar

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Shabana, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Derrick Onyango rescues a point for Shabana

It needed Derrick Onyango to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Kenya Police, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

Shabana pick somebody else ahead of Brian Junior Olega

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Keith Imbali

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

An afternoon Austine Odongo will want back

Marked 5.69. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.

In brief

26 Edition

The Mara Sugar Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Mara Sugar

Alex Imbusia 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

The manager makes an example of Kelvin Mwavali

“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

Michael Isabwa 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

25 Edition

The Shabana Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Cliff Nyakeya damages knee ligaments — 92 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.

Boardroom

David Obasanjo signs for Gor Mahia while still at Shabana

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. David Obasanjo has agreed terms with Gor Mahia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nehemiah Onchiri

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nehemiah Onchiri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shabana the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

George Onyango 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 Shabana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Prince Ndubuisi stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Prince Ndubuisi and Shabana agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

Danson Kiprono told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Danson Kiprono has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Shabana.

In brief

24 Edition

The Shabana Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Cliff Nyakeya damages knee ligaments — 99 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

A fracture rules Humphrey Obina out for 19 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shabana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Denis Simiyu 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 Shabana, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Gilbert Abala has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shabana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Gilbert Abala signs for Kakamega Homeboyz while still at Shabana

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Gilbert Abala has agreed terms with Kakamega Homeboyz for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Market

Posta Rangers come back empty-handed

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

In brief

23 Edition

The Shabana Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Cliff Nyakeya damages knee ligaments — 106 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

A fracture rules Humphrey Obina out for 26 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shabana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Stephen Otieno 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 Shabana can pretend not to have heard.

In brief