A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Remo Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Abubakar Adams has just signed for Remo Stars, and for once the answer mattered.
Sunday Aniebet 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jabu Mokone 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 much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Remo Stars told Odunsi Sunday something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adama Goïta signs something — a contract at Remo Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jabu Mokone was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Remo Stars, another week without a signature from Biola Sabitu.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Hosea Michael has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
BoardroomThe Remo Stars board put their names to it
Position 2, 71 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Jabu Mokone 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Johnson Amuzu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Sunday Aniebet 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 Jabu Mokone was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Remo Stars, another week without a signature from Biola Sabitu.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Anakwe signs something — a contract at Remo Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Remo Stars could ask drops and the wages Jabu Mokone can ask rise.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars 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 Jabu Mokone was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Adebayo Balogun left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Olamilekan Adedayo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Katsina United had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo Stars 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 Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jabu Mokone 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Remo Stars know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Something was said to Johnson Amuzu and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hosea Michael trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
A brace, and Adama Goïta takes the afternoon — 8.60
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adama Goïta provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Remo Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The name of Samuel Anakwe has come up in conversations Remo Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Sunday Aniebet 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.
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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Remo Stars asked and Nasarawa United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Adama Goïta 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.
The name of Emmanuel Olisa has come up in conversations Remo Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Jabu Mokone 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.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deal with Asante Kotoko 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.
Hadi Haruna 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.
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
SquadJabu Mokone falls out with a teammate over standards
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hadi Haruna 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Jabu Mokone 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.
Marked 7.79. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout1 May 2028
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.” Adebayo Balogun kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Remo Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.56, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 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: Adama Goïta. 2‑0 against Kano Pillars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Hadi Haruna 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 Jabu Mokone was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Adebayo Balogun left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Ibrahim Obansa's mistake
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Olalekan Adeleye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Katsina United next, and one man in the Remo Stars dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Biola Sabitu signs something — a contract at Remo Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Galeano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hadi Haruna 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Adebayo Balogun after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Antonio Galeano and Remo Stars agree another 5 years.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Hadi Haruna 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 Antonio Galeano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Remo Stars told Stanley Joseph something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
The offer from Kwara United for Olamilekan Adedayo 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Remo Stars offered $39.0K; Shooting Stars said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
Hadi Haruna 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.
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Biola Sabitu now has 25 of them across 74 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
This is not rotation. Olamilekan Adedayo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Remo Stars is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Remo Stars asked and Bandirmaspor 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 name of Mark Gibson has come up in conversations Remo Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Biola Sabitu
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Gibson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Hadi Haruna 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Jabu Mokone 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Remo Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Biola Sabitu has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hadi Haruna 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jabu Mokone 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 did not go to El-Kanemi Warriors to sit and watch. I want to come back to Remo Stars and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Odunsi Sunday trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdulrazaq Shuaibu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars 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 Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Jabu Mokone 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Remo Stars told Ibrahim Obansa something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Remo Stars 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, 58 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Hadi Haruna 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.
“I watch every Remo Stars game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at El-Kanemi Warriors runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
10 goals in 28 games at Rangers International — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Remo Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Remo Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Remo Stars would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 did not go to El-Kanemi Warriors to sit and watch. I want to come back to Remo Stars and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Harrison Mohammed 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.
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 Qudus Akanni is on it.
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Remo Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ibrahim Obansa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Remo Stars needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Odion Adebayor, 15 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Remo Stars close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$38.0K on the table at Shooting Stars. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$38.0K was the most the club would pay and Shooting Stars were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Galeano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hadi Haruna 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 young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Remo Stars who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Remo Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Adebayo Balogun could afford to be generous.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Remo Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Sodiq Oshidero again, and this time the name on the line is Spartaks. Remo Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.
0‑1 to Bendel Insurance, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Jabu Mokone 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Remo Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Hadi Haruna 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against El-Kanemi Warriors in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $27.8K — a club that wants Daniel Monday enough to be asked twice.
$25.0K was the most the club would pay and Rangers International were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Akinyele 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Hadi Haruna 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.
At 22 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 dugout24 May 2027
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.” Adebayo Balogun kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
A mark of 8.08 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Hadi Haruna 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.
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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kano Pillars were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Abubacarr Sedi Kinteh in the middle of it, and Kano Pillars unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Remo Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Hadi Haruna 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Remo Stars told Abubacarr Sedi Kinteh something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérôme Bonou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Katsina United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aduana Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Plateau United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Remo Stars asked and LOSC Lille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.