Marked for Jonathan Mairiga
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Ezekiel Oroh: 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.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Henry Ndedi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justus Ohanu 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Warri Wolves may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Henry Ndedi 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Uche Sabastine and Warri Wolves agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market7 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Samuel Okon: 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.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Henry Ndedi 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Henry Ndedi, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Okon 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
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Goforth Amedu
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Warri Wolves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market5 Oct 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Henry Ndedi 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Goforth Amedu named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Goforth Amedu is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justus Ohanu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Henry Ndedi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Justus Ohanu 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miracle Ukadike, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Amatesiro Shemayi
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Remo Stars came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Jonathan Mairiga
Nobody at Warri Wolves is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Chisom Orji beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 11. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Sep 2026
4 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Vincent Edafe has given nobody the chance.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑3 to Enyimba, 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.
Market7 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 16 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Warri Wolves 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Eromosele Zibiri to Katsina United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Warri Wolves with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Henry Ndedi 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Othuke Egbo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Warri Wolves asked and Nasarawa 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Seth Mayi 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.