Marked for Mohammad Mukhtar
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kano Pillars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market19 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kano Pillars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kano Pillars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kano Pillars have done the hard part with Nizhniy Novgorod, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A hand in 2 of them from Junior Aliyu — 7.86
Marked 7.86. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kano Pillars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ferencvaros have kept their man, and Kano Pillars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chiedozie Okorie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Abuchi Okeke gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kano Pillars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kano Pillars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The deal with Remo Stars 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Mustapha Umar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market12 Jun 2028
Rivers United are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Kano Pillars will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Kano Pillars asked and Sigma Olomouc said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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 terraces12 Jun 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mustapha Umar 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.
Match10 Jun 2028
A 1‑0 win over El-Kanemi Warriors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kano Pillars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Rangers International, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Mustapha Umar 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.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chiedozie Okorie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Jun 2028
A 2‑0 win over Plateau United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
200 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kano Pillars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 May 2028
A brace, and Mustapha Umar takes the afternoon — 8.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mustapha Umar provided it, and the 8.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market15 May 2028
Muttaka Musa has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kano Pillars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 May 2028
Mustapha Umar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match13 May 2028
A 3‑1 win over Nasarawa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad15 May 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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 terraces15 May 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mustapha Jawad 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.
Match15 May 2028
Halfway: Kano Pillars sit in position 15
21 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad15 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Idris Bashir and Kano Pillars agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 May 2028
Umar Muhammad hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kano Pillars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 May 2028
Mustapha Umar 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.
Match6 May 2028
Abia Warriors left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 May 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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 dugout8 May 2028
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hussain Bala and Kano Pillars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout8 May 2028
Junior Aliyu 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 Junior Aliyu is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by Enyimba, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Mustapha Umar 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Nasiru Umar beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
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 0‑3 Nnamdi Osimhen left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Junior Aliyu 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 Junior Aliyu is on it.
Looking ahead10 Apr 2028
The leaders are next for Kano Pillars
Barau top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Apr 2028
Muhammed Usman damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kano Pillars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kano Pillars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Marked 7.93. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Nasiru Umar named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nasiru Umar is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match1 Apr 2028
It needed Mustapha Umar to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Warri Wolves, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“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.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Mohammad Mukhtar 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
Squad27 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Muhammed Usman
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kano Pillars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kano Pillars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Aminu 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kano Pillars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market27 Mar 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Muttaka Musa has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Kano Pillars.
Market27 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kano Pillars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Nasiru Lawan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kano Pillars 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes Samuel Agu a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kano Pillars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Feb 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Chiedozie Okorie had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market14 Feb 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ayuba Mukhtar reports back to Kano Pillars with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Aminu Mohammed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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.
Match12 Feb 2028
Katsina United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Feb 2028
The name of Muttaka Musa has come up in conversations Kano Pillars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ismail Musa and Kano Pillars agree another 3 years.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nnamdi Osimhen after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market14 Feb 2028
Samuel Agu is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kano Pillars has been clear about where Samuel Agu stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
The offer from Warri Wolves for Chiedozie Okorie 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kano Pillars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market17 Jan 2028
Salihu Nasiru hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kano Pillars can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 Jan 2028
4 matches without a win for Kano Pillars
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Kano Pillars are no longer polite ones.
Market17 Jan 2028
So close: Muttaka Musa’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Shooting Stars moved on, Muttaka Musa reports back to Kano Pillars, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Mustapha Umar 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Door shut on Alani
Kano Pillars asked and Maritimo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Chiedozie Okorie 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
Market1 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Muttaka Musa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muttaka Musa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kano Pillars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Aminu Mohammed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Kano Pillars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chiedozie Okorie 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Serge Obassa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kano Pillars 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Samuel Agu has moved up it.
Market1 Nov 2027
The Lius Dadong story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lius Dadong signs something — a contract at Kano Pillars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammad Mukhtar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Kano Pillars would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
Aminu 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Chiedozie Okorie 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Something was said to Mohammad Mukhtar and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Abdullahi Musa knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdullahi Musa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market18 Oct 2027
The name of Mustapha Umar keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Kano Pillars say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market1 Mar 2027
The bid was some way short and Kano Pillars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match27 Feb 2027
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Kano Pillars have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Ali Abdullahi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chiedozie Okorie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
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.
Match27 Feb 2027
A 2‑0 win over Bayelsa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match27 Feb 2027
Kano Pillars keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Kano Pillars support went home talking about one name.
The dugout1 Mar 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.” Nnamdi Osimhen kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.