Marked for Mohammad Mukhtar
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bayelsa United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kano Pillars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
No sign of nerves from Ayuba Mukhtar at 19 — 7.77
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ayuba Mukhtar did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match14 Aug 2027
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad16 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kano Pillars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ali Abdullahi 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Kano Pillars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammad Mukhtar, and the manager let it.
Match14 Aug 2027
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Enyimba had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Kano Pillars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Aug 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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Abdullahi Musa 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The name of Muhammed Usman has come up in conversations Kano Pillars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Mustapha Umar
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mustapha Umar has come out of that comparison in the side, and Kano Pillars have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zayyad Musa, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
Junior Aliyu 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Ali Abdullahi 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Idris Bashir 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 terraces31 May 2027
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.
The dugout31 May 2027
Idris Bashir 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout31 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.” Umar Okoye kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
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 May 2027
Abdullahi Musa 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Kano Pillars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Abdullahi 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Salihu Nasiru and Kano Pillars agree another 3 years.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout3 May 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 dugout3 May 2027
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.” Umar Okoye chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout3 May 2027
Aminu Mohammed 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 Aminu Mohammed trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
6 matches without a win for Kano Pillars
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Kano Pillars are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Abdullahi Musa 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
0‑2 to Katsina United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Umar Okoye to a room that had heard them before.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Kano Pillars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Habibu Yakubu 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
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 Auwalu Ali Malam is on it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Samuel Agu 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
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market11 Jan 2027
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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Abdullahi Musa 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Kano Pillars do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Muhammed Usman has come up in conversations Kano Pillars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Kano Pillars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabian Nworie 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 7.95. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A one-man rearguard from Abuchi Okeke
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Age has not caught Ahmed Musa yet — 8.07
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Abdullahi Musa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Kano Pillars
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. John Dennis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market4 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Eze 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Abdullahi Musa 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Kano Pillars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Abdullahi 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 dugout16 Nov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes Mustapha Umar 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
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Auwalu Ali Malam
23 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Auwalu Abdullahi out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kano Pillars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Abdullahi Musa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Kano Pillars are still strangers to each other
7 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Aminu Mohammed 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 Aminu Mohammed trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kano Pillars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
34 days out for Auwalu Abdullahi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kano Pillars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Oct 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 Kano Pillars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 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 Kano Pillars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Abdullahi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aminu Mohammed, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kano Pillars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Abdullahi Musa 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Kano Pillars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabian Nworie 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“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 dugout28 Sep 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.