Marked for Adekunle Mojeed
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Enyimba
12 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Enyimba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Enyimba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Enyimba is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Ezekiel Edidiong 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Enyimba will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Enyimba can pretend not to have heard.
Match19 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Enyimba's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Enyimba has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ezekiel Edidiong 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Jacob
“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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Wikki Tourists left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Doors closed at Enyimba
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Enyimba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 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 Enyimba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match1 May 2027
Shooting Stars made Enyimba work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad3 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad3 May 2027
Sunday Aniebet knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sunday Aniebet trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Enyimba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ezekiel Edidiong 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Adekunle Mojeed, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uwana Asuquo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for John Kennedy
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Kennedy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Enyimba the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ezekiel Edidiong 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Whatever happens, Enyimba do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Enyimba, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Jonathan Jacob keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Enyimba say nothing, which says plenty.
Market22 Feb 2027
Enyimba have let the market know Stanley Dimgba can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Enyimba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Ezekiel Edidiong 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Eze Matthew has come up in conversations Enyimba were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Paul Odeh
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paul Odeh, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Enyimba will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market11 Jan 2027
Enyimba have made Jonathan Jacob available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market14 Sep 2026
Enyimba say no — this time
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Ebube Success 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Remo Stars moved on, Chibudem Favour reports back to Enyimba, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Stanley Dimgba 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Shooting Stars made Enyimba work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.72 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Uwana Asuquo
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Enyimba, another week without a signature from Joseph Abiodun.