Marked for Olanrewaju Molade
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
The knee: Yomi Ayodeji out for 18 days
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ikorodu City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market18 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. Ikorodu City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Kano Pillars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ikorodu City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market18 Jan 2027
Aderemi Adeoye has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ikorodu City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rangers International have kept their man, and Ikorodu City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aliu Salawudeen, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Daniel Idoko: 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.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Aliu Salawudeen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Onyeuche Ujunwa and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Urartu to sit and watch. I want to come back to Ikorodu City and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michael Atata, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayomide Cole was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Kelechi Onwe 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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
15 appearances at Victoria United and the goals keep coming. Ikorodu City are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Michael Atata wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Ikorodu City have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ikorodu City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market16 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I watch every Ikorodu City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Urartu runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Seun Agboola 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 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 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 Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Emmanuel Mathias
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Ikorodu City will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seun Agboola 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 dugout9 Nov 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
The goals keep arriving from Uzoma Chinonso’s exile
4 goals in 10 games at Victoria United — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ikorodu City updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Musa Malik 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Ayomide Cole has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ayomide Cole has written the date down.
Market9 Nov 2026
Gift Udoh linked with a move away
The name of Gift Udoh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ikorodu City say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Oghenekaro Ebuehi damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Market19 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 Ikorodu City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tosin Oyedokun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ikorodu City, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Seun Agboola 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Malik Afoke, and the manager let it.
Market19 Oct 2026
No place for Yomi Ayodeji in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yomi Ayodeji has his answer from Ikorodu City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Daniel Idoko 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes Ayomide Cole a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ikorodu City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seun Agboola 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Tosin Oyedokun
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Tosin Oyedokun has come out of that comparison in the side, and Ikorodu City have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alfred Odinaka, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Gift Udoh moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Ikorodu City than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Ikorodu City's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ikorodu City has to find a result from somewhere.
Market21 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tosin Oyedokun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
A goal on 86 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
7.97, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Ikorodu City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Loan watch21 Sep 2026
“I watch every Ikorodu City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Urartu runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Victor Awoniyi and Ikorodu City agree another 3 years.
Match19 Sep 2026
It needed Tosin Oyedokun to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Wikki Tourists, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ikorodu City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oghenekaro Ebuehi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Peter Omeruo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Musa Malik and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Barau leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Shodeinde Moses 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.