Marked for Abdulrasheed Shehu
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
The knee: Moses Onyeka out for 26 days
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match8 May 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Temple Emekayi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rivers United.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Temple Emekayi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad10 May 2027
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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“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 Rivers United, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad10 May 2027
Moses Ali 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 dugout10 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Peter Ekong could afford to be generous.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ani Ozoemena, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Chances created: 10. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Medeama waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rivers United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A brace, and Aniekeme Okon takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aniekeme Okon provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo Stars have kept their man, and Rivers United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Daddy Abdulrahman 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 terraces18 Jan 2027
The crowd has taken to Alex Oyowah
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.
Match16 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Aniekeme Okon’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rivers United.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 52 days on the sidelines for Bolu Sholumade, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Rivers United are still strangers to each other
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Peter Ekong could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Stephen Manyo 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Abdulrasheed Shehu 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Handsome Surveyor, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Rivers United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Ani Ozoemena 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 Rivers United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Seyi Oguntayo and Rivers United agree another 3 years.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrasheed Shehu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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
Upbeat
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
The season a town measures the next twenty against. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Chijioke Mbaoma damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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 ratings14 Dec 2026
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdulrasheed Shehu did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Daddy Abdulrahman 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdulrasheed Shehu and Rivers United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.81 on the card, and the Rivers United support went home talking about one name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market7 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rivers United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alex Oyowah and Rivers United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrasheed Shehu 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Daddy Abdulrahman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Bello Martins
“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 Nov 2026
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrasheed Shehu 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 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Bello Martins has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Rivers United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Chijioke Mbaoma
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rivers United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Gabriel Innocent: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rivers United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Elias Ochiobi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrasheed Shehu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Temple Emekayi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rivers 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Bello Martins 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 Rivers United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rivers United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market9 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Sunday Chinedu
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sunday Chinedu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Stephen Manyo 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andy Ezekiel and Rivers United agree another 4 years.
Market9 Nov 2026
No place for Ani Ozoemena in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ani Ozoemena has his answer from Rivers United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Abdulrasheed Shehu 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rivers United, another week without a signature from Ebuka Akobundu.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Something was said to Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Rivers United are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Collins Onovughe, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Aniekeme Okon has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rivers 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrasheed Shehu 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Alex Oyowah asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Wikki Tourists, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
The terraces28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Daddy Abdulrahman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
11 new faces, and Rivers United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Ekong after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Aniekeme Okon 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 Aniekeme Okon is on it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Abdulrasheed Shehu 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Market21 Sep 2026
Rivers United have let the market know Stephen Manyo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrasheed Shehu 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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 Sunday Chinedu is on it.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Kwara United next, and one man in the Rivers United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Rivers United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 21 in, 15 out at Rivers United
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 21 arrived, 15 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Medeama moved on, Handsome Surveyor reports back to Rivers United, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$120.0K on the table at Nasarawa United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market7 Sep 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Rivers United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Chinemerem Ugwueze is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tijani Adeloju 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ani Ozoemena, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrasheed Shehu 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.