Position 14 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
11 matches without a win, and then this, against New Edubiase United. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Harrison Ebah 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 Charles Baah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Heart of Lions go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Charles Baah has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
8 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and New Edubiase United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Heart of Lions is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Thomas Kwabena Osae is living that version at Heart of Lions, and it tends to show in the first month.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Andre Afful has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Kwesi Pong 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heart of Lions can pretend not to have heard.
Harrison Ebah 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.
Ashanti Gold will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. George Amonoo has pre-agreed a move to Heart of Lions, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Medeama have kept their man, and Heart of Lions go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Charles Baah 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.
6 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.
1‑3 to Wa All Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Baah 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.
“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 dugout30 Dec 2030
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 1‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
1‑5 against Aduana Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions 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 Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Heart of Lions and Aduana Stars in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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 dugout23 Dec 2030
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 1‑5 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Dec 2030
Baba Mensah, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.89
A mark of 7.89 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.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heart of Lions can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Baah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 94, against BA All Stars, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Position 12, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heart of Lions can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kwadwo Obeng Junior and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Kwesi Pong 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 Dec 2030
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Baah 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutMacaulley Kuma has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutKwasi Donsu knocks on the manager’s door
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kwadwo Obeng Junior and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwadwo Obeng Junior provided it, and the 9.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Harrison Ebah 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 Charles Baah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Emmanuel Schlupp 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 dugout18 Nov 2030
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.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Hearts of Oak.
Harrison Ebah 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 easiest signature of my career.” Albert Djiku and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
At 19 nothing has moved for months. Not backwards, which would at least be a conversation — simply nowhere, and somebody at the club has to decide whose fault that is.
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 Macaulley Kuma is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Andre Afful has his answer from Heart of Lions; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Heart of Lions lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Heart of Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Charles Baah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
George Paaku was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. 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.
Minute 87, against Berekum Chelsea, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Daniel Essien
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Heart of Lions rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and New Edubiase United had no answer to any of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kamaldeen Sulemana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Heart of Lions the goodbyes have quietly begun.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Heart of Lions lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Heart of Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Godfrey Selchum trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Heart of Lions lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Heart of Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Baba Mensah did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.79 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Bechem United were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
He is 20 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.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Heart of Lions lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Heart of Lions will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Harrison Ebah 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.
Liberty Professionals left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Heart of Lions lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Heart of Lions will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Heart of Lions and Medeama have settled on $220.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Deadline passes with 16 signed and 13 gone
That is the business done at Heart of Lions until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Heart of Lions lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Heart of Lions will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Heart of Lions and Ashanti Gold have settled on $220.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Solomon Agbesi has his answer from Heart of Lions; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Solomon Agbesi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The clubs have shaken hands with Wa All Stars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Heart of Lions is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kwesi Pong 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. David Asante is living that version at Heart of Lions, and it tends to show in the first month.
Heart of Lions asked and Medeama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadHarrison Ebah falls out with a teammate over standards
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Heart of Lions people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with New Edubiase United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Great Olympics have kept their man, and Heart of Lions go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henry Ansu 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 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kwesi Pong 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 easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Essien and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harrison Ebah 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.
Heart of Lions have made the call to Medeama. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
$480.0K on the table at Aduana 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.
Kwesi Pong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Henry Ansu 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Heart of Lions will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Heart of Lions were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Mohammed Hussein is in the works
$370.0K settles it between the clubs for Baba Acquah
WAFA have accepted the money. What Heart of Lions do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everything was agreed with Asante Kotoko and then the doctor spoke. Heart of Lions have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. David Inusah has agreed terms with New Edubiase United for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
$200.0K on the table at Berekum Chelsea. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Kwesi Pong 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 is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Abraham Schlupp is living that version at Heart of Lions, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harrison Ebah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Bechem United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kamaldeen Sulemana. The answer from Heart of Lions has not changed — yet.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Heart of Lions have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Mensah and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Heart of Lions, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harrison Ebah 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emmanuel Schlupp trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Heart of Lions the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Kwesi Pong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Henry Ansu 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Heart of Lions, another week without a signature from Kwasi Donsu.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kwasi Donsu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Heart of Lions 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Heart of Lions has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Heart of Lions have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harrison Ebah 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.
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 Daniel Addo is on it.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Heart of Lions lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
11 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.
“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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Bukari did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwadwo Obeng Junior provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kwame Boateng is living that version at Heart of Lions, and it tends to show in the first month.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Heart of Lions and Ashanti Gold, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heart of Lions can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Heart of Lions can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Henry Ansu 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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Heart of Lions asked and Bechem 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.
Macaulley Kuma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Henry Ansu 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heart of Lions can pretend not to have heard.
Kwesi Pong 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Osei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
1‑6 to Bechem United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
Heart of Lions have gone to Bechem United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Everything agreed with Wa All Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Kwesi Pong 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 clubs have shaken hands with Hearts of Oak; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Henry Ansu 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Heart of Lions, another week without a signature from Solomon Agbesi.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
1‑4 against Liberty Professionals, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Solomon Agbesi is living that version at Heart of Lions, and it tends to show in the first month.
The shirt still fits. Solomon Agbesi is back at Heart of Lions, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. WAFA have kept their man, and Heart of Lions go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henry Ansu 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Edmund Annan has his answer from Heart of Lions; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout31 Dec 2029
George Paaku is still being punished for one mistake
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwadwo Obeng Junior provided it, and the 9.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henry Ansu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kwadwo Obeng Junior. 2‑0 against Wa All Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Andrew Addo, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Heart of Lions and Aduana Stars in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑6, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Heart of Lions is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.50 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kwadwo Obeng Junior. 3‑1 against BA All Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edmund Annan and Heart of Lions agree another 1 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henry Ansu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henry Ansu 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.
He is 23 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Heart of Lions, another week without a signature from Kwasi Donsu.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daniel Essien is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwasi Donsu 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Godfrey Selchum 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrew Addo after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Heart of Lions could ask drops and the wages Stephen Appiah Asare can ask rise.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Heart of Lions is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Stephen Appiah Asare 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.
Kwadwo Obeng Junior scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Hasaacas, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Henry Ansu 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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and George Osei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. George Paaku is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Berekum Chelsea the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Heart of Lions will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Heart of Lions have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Berekum Chelsea left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Henry Ansu 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Henry Ansu 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Kwadwo Obeng Junior in the middle of it, and New Edubiase United unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
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.” Andrew Addo chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Heart of Lions have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heart of Lions they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Heart of Lions has been clear about where Daniel Addo stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrew Addo was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Heart of Lions dressing room was either.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Kwadwo Obeng Junior has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Kwesi Pong 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Heart of Lions can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henry Ansu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Heart of Lions is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henry Ansu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwadwo Obeng Junior provided it, and the 9.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heart of Lions can pretend not to have heard.
Kwesi Pong 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 Henry Ansu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kwadwo Obeng Junior. 2‑1 against Wa All Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 21 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.
1‑4 against Aduana Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Heart of Lions, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
$14.0K settles it between the clubs for Albert Essien
Hearts of Oak have accepted the money. What Heart of Lions do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Heart of Lions may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Heart of Lions close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 14 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 shirt still fits. Kwasi Donsu is back at Heart of Lions, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Kwesi Pong 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.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Heart of Lions
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.