Marked for Chisom Ogbun
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 May 2029
Position 3 and 66 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market14 May 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orlando Pirates they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market14 May 2029
Cassius Mailula wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Orlando Pirates hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad14 May 2029
Thalente Mbatha 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deon Hotto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 May 2029
“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 dugout14 May 2029
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 Relebohile Mofokeng is on it.
The dugout14 May 2029
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 Gomolemo Kekana has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout7 May 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market7 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Thato Mabena
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thato Mabena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orlando Pirates the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market7 May 2029
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando Pirates can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Boardroom7 May 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Dillan Solomons has agreed terms with Kaizer Chiefs for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad7 May 2029
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2029
Thalente Mbatha 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.
Squad7 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chisom Ogbun and Orlando Pirates agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 May 2029
Masindi Nemtajela has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orlando Pirates 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Cassius Mailula and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thalente Mbatha 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 dugout30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Gomolemo Kekana
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chisom Ogbun and Orlando Pirates agree another 4 years.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
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.
Market30 Apr 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thalente Mbatha signs something — a contract at Orlando Pirates or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Orlando Pirates told Chisom Ogbun something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Deon Hotto has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Deon Hotto keeps the shirt for now, at Orlando Pirates's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jul 2028
Muhammad Hussain damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Warri Wolves people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match22 Jul 2028
The run at home goes on for Warri Wolves
15 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Chisom Orji takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Chisom Orji is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.28 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Othuke Egbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Jul 2028
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Warri Wolves and Ikorodu City in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Muhammad Hussain
143 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Warri Wolves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Warri Wolves people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match8 Jul 2028
The run at home goes on for Warri Wolves
14 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match8 Jul 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Othuke Egbo 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 targets10 Jul 2028
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Mayi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces10 Jul 2028
At 23 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.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Louis Umoh
“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
Triumph
Market26 Jun 2028
“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.
Match24 Jun 2028
5 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.
Match24 Jun 2028
The run at home goes on for Warri Wolves
13 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Umoh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Jun 2028
A 1‑0 win over El-Kanemi Warriors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Marked 8.14 — 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.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to Bendel Insurance: 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
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Louis Umoh dropped after a run of poor form
-
Player ratings
Chisom Ogbun was immovable
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 May 2028
Chisom Ogbun 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Match27 May 2028
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Awal Auta decided nobody was going anywhere. Nasarawa United had no time left to answer.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Up for the corner, and Prince Ebhohon delivers — 7.86
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Prince Ebhohon scored, was marked 7.86, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad29 May 2028
Othuke Egbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Ninety minutes of Chisom Orji at his very best
Marked 9.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Warri Wolves.
Match27 May 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Awal Auta. 3‑1 against Nasarawa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Mayi 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 terraces29 May 2028
At 23 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 ratings29 May 2028
Ninety minutes of Awal Auta at his very best
Marked 8.03. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Warri Wolves.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Warri Wolves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 May 2028
Awal Auta 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 May 2028
The run at home goes on for Warri Wolves
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings8 May 2028
21 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Mayi 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.
Match6 May 2028
Remo Stars made Warri Wolves work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Ninety minutes of Chisom Orji at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Warri Wolves.
Match8 May 2028
Halfway: Warri Wolves sit in position 10
25 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout8 May 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Simon Omeruo on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 May 2028
“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 ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vincent Edafe and Warri Wolves agree another 4 years.
Squad1 May 2028
Othuke Egbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Seth Mayi 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 terraces1 May 2028
The crowd has taken to Awal Auta
At 23 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.
The dugout1 May 2028
Seth Mayi 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Awal Auta. 1‑0 against Barau, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout1 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Simon Omeruo, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Apr 2028
Remo Stars ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Awal Auta 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 ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Vincent Edafe
“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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Warri Wolves make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Warri Wolves had all but put away. Enyimba will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Ugwuoke Ugochukwu 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
It needed Chisom Orji to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Enyimba, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Apr 2028
“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.
Match1 Apr 2028
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Kwara United had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Warri Wolves did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Iwueke Obiuto and Warri Wolves agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Othuke Egbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces3 Apr 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Awal Auta 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
A promise honoured for Ejike Ikwu
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Warri Wolves told Ejike Ikwu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ugwuoke Ugochukwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Othuke Egbo 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Prince Ebhohon commits to Warri Wolves for another 4 years.
Match11 Mar 2028
Ikorodu City left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Louis Umoh
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Simon Omeruo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Vincent Edafe has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Warri Wolves 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
Chisom Ogbun 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 Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Mar 2028
Chisom Ogbun 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Warri Wolves may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chisom Orji and Warri Wolves agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Mayi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match4 Mar 2028
A point taken on 90 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 dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Alimi Adebayo
“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.
Match4 Mar 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
Vincent Edafe damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Igbunu Evwierhurhoma 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
Vincent Edafe 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 Vincent Edafe is on it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jerry Isaac, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Samuel Okon 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 Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager makes Ejike Ikwu a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Warri Wolves. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Dec 2027
Vincent Edafe damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Chisom Ogbun 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad6 Dec 2027
Othuke Egbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Chisom Orji 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 dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Godwin Oham
“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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The formation has left Iwueke Obiuto behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Warri Wolves will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market6 Dec 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Warri Wolves, another week without a signature from Iwueke Obiuto.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Nov 2027
68 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Warri Wolves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market8 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ugwuoke Ugochukwu and Warri Wolves agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chisom Orji 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Ejike Ikwu 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.