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.
Tosin Oyedokun 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo City have kept their man, and Ikorodu City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Al-Orobah 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.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rivers United have kept their man, and Ikorodu City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Samuel Ezekiel 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.
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.
Bendel Insurance 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.
“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.
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.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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 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.
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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then El-Kanemi Warriors scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ikorodu City told Marvelous Freedom something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout28 May 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Etebo Babatunde chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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 dugout7 May 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Etebo Babatunde chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
A 3‑2 win over Nasarawa United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Tosin Oyedokun 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 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The goal that put Nasarawa United ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Ikorodu City equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 20 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shodeinde Moses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Mathias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
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.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Etebo Babatunde was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ikorodu City dressing room was either.
13 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.
Match10 Feb 2029
Samuel Ezekiel wins it after the whistle should have gone
94 minutes played. Samuel Ezekiel found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Shooting Stars went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ezekiel provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Ezekiel. 3‑2 against Shooting Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Michael Atata
39 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Lokomotivi had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
80 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“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.
Emmanuel Mathias 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chineme Chinonso and Ikorodu City agree another 5 years.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
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 Suleiman Nasiru is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ikorodu City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ikorodu City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Ikorodu City have had the benefit of it.
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.
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
10 goals in 33 games at Rangers International — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ikorodu City updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ikorodu City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Tosin Oyedokun 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 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 easiest signature of my career.” Onyeuche Ujunwa and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ikorodu City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Mathias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
117 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.
80 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Mathias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Suleiman Nasiru is on it.
124 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ikorodu City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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 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.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Mathias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Mathias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 goals in 33 games at Rangers International — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ikorodu City updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emmanuel Mathias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ikorodu City have done the hard part with Kano Pillars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Chineme Chinonso had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Seidu Ismaila.
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Seidu Ismaila
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Uzoma Chinonso’s exile
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.
Everything agreed with Warri Wolves, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Mathias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Aduana Stars will make the call about Chineme Chinonso this week. Ikorodu City have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
46 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Chineme Chinonso again, and this time the name on the line is Canon Yaounde. Ikorodu City are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Ezekiel. 1‑0 against Kun Khalifat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Suleiman Nasiru and Ikorodu City agree another 3 years.
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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ikorodu City told Onochie Chukwu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Position 3, 36 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oluwatomisin Adebayo and Ikorodu City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Half the programme played, position 3, 36 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Wikki Tourists scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Samuel Ezekiel did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Ikorodu City had all but put away. Abia Warriors will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Onyeuche Ujunwa 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ezekiel provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Onochie Chukwu has, at Ikorodu City, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Bendel Insurance have accepted the money. What Ikorodu City do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Ikorodu City until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ikorodu City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Samuel Ezekiel, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.03
A mark of 8.03 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Ikorodu City asked and Warri Wolves said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gift Udoh 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Samuel Ezekiel’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ikorodu City.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Etebo Babatunde on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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 offer from Niger Tornadoes for Ayomide Cole 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Warri Wolves have kept their man, and Ikorodu City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Aliu Salawudeen 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Etebo Babatunde after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Hussaini Mubarak 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.
Nasarawa United asked and Ikorodu City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Nasarawa United 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Nasarawa United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joshua John and Nasarawa United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Joseph Arumala 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.
Ikorodu City moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Etebo Babatunde, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Ikorodu City
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The phone has started ringing about Uzoma Chinonso again, and this time the name on the line is Rivers United. Ikorodu City are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bayelsa United have kept their man, and Ikorodu City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Leon Moffi 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.
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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ikorodu City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
“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 Ikorodu City, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ikorodu City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasarawa United can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasarawa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nasarawa United, another week without a signature from Bright Ihionu.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nasarawa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Hassan Adamu is on it.
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shodeinde Moses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
Position 6, 59 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
In brief
The dugoutUzoma Chinonso asks for a word with the manager
SquadAyomide Cole is not doing himself any favours
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasarawa United can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Nobody at Nasarawa United 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutHassan Adamu knocks on the manager's door
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
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.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Suleiman Nasiru has his answer from Ikorodu City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ibrahim Abdullahi and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
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 Suleiman Nasiru is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chidera Oparaocha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Ikorodu City than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Joseph Arumala’s exile
MatchContinental football is in reach for Ikorodu City