Marked for Ibrahim Abdullahi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Feb 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Afeez Bankole
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ikorodu City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Oladimeji Dada and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Feb 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oluwatomisin Adebayo and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings9 Feb 2032
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings9 Feb 2032
Ninety minutes of Chineme Chinonso at his very best
Marked 8.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ikorodu City.
The dugout9 Feb 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Moses Aribo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout9 Feb 2032
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 Emmanuel Mathias is on it.
Market9 Feb 2032
Aliu Salawudeen is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ikorodu City has been clear about where Aliu Salawudeen stands, which is more than many ever get.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Sep 2031
A move Godfrey Selchum would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Godfrey Selchum is living that version at Ikorodu City, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market15 Sep 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ikorodu City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Sep 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
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.
Market15 Sep 2031
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
Marked 7.72 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Ikorodu City had the best player on the pitch.
Match13 Sep 2031
A 1‑1 draw with Niger Tornadoes leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
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 Gideon Manaseh is on it.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Moses Aribo was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Ikorodu City dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Sep 2031
A season average of 7.67 with 33 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
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Squad8 Sep 2031
Oladimeji Dada 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 targets8 Sep 2031
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.
Match6 Sep 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Chineme Chinonso. 1‑0 against Nasarawa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 Sep 2031
Chineme Chinonso was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. 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 dugout8 Sep 2031
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad8 Sep 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Elkanah Godgift and Ikorodu City agree another 3 years.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Moses Aribo on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
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.
Match5 Feb 2031
A 4‑0 win over Kun Khalifat, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match8 Feb 2031
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
A brace, and Oladimeji Dada takes the afternoon — 8.92
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Oladimeji Dada provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market10 Feb 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Shodeinde Moses will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ikorodu City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Marked 9.17 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.
Match8 Feb 2031
6 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.
Market10 Feb 2031
“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 Ikorodu City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
Kelechi Onwe: 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.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Jul 2030
34 goals and a season average of 7.88. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings15 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 39. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Jul 2030
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match13 Jul 2030
Kwara United will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ikorodu City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match10 Jul 2030
Abia Warriors go through and Ikorodu City go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market15 Jul 2030
Only the photograph left for Joseph Arumala
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joseph Arumala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ikorodu City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
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The dugout15 Jul 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ikorodu City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Jul 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.