Marked for Rasheed Owolabi
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chineme Chinonso and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years.
Squad23 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 dugout23 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Kelechi Onwe 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 Kelechi Onwe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Rasheed Owolabi: 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.
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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
Kelechi Onwe 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 Kelechi Onwe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Nov 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Ibifubara Dagogo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Gift Udoh talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ikorodu City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 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.
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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Moses Ali, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch9 Nov 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Michael Atata
“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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Musa Malik has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Ikorodu City will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.