Aniekeme Okon 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.
Squad21 Nov 2033
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gibril Sosseh 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 Alex Oyowah is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Usman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Tobi Alagbe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Nov 2033
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gibril Sosseh 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rivers United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Aniekeme Okon 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 Gibril Sosseh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Andy Ezekiel is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rivers United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rivers United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Kelechi Chimezie has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Isaiah Ngbede are not good
Tobi Alagbe 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.
Squad24 Oct 2033
Gibril Sosseh 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 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 Alex Oyowah is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rivers United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
A new face in his position, and Gibril Sosseh suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Rivers United have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Rivers United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Oct 2033
Gibril Sosseh 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.
Nobody at Rivers United 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adebayo Amoo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Aniekeme Okon 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 Oct 2033
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gibril Sosseh 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rivers United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 36 with 87 appearances behind him, and Rivers United have to plan for both answers.
In brief
The dugoutBello Martins knocks on the manager’s door
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 74 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rivers United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Usman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Tobi Alagbe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Gibril Sosseh 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.
Successful dribbles: 46. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rivers United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal that would have taken Godwin Dede to Ikorodu City has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Rivers United with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gibril Sosseh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Tobi Alagbe is on it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Chukwueze Dennis after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rivers United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Squad29 Aug 2033
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gibril Sosseh 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.
Add another name to the list: Ikorodu City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Godwin Dede. The answer from Rivers United has not changed — yet.
A 1‑0 win over Bayelsa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings29 Aug 2033
Alex Oyowah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.54. 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.
Nobody at Rivers United 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rivers United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rivers United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gibril Sosseh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout22 Aug 2033
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 1‑2 Chukwueze Dennis left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 34, 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 Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10.00. 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Rivers United and Katsina United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marked 9.05 — 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rivers United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gibril Sosseh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rivers United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Squad25 Jul 2033
Getting past Andy Ezekiel has become the hardest job in the division
13 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Gibril Sosseh at his very best
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.
“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 Rivers United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Tobi Alagbe 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.
Player ratings18 Jul 2033
Azeez Agboola was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gibril Sosseh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Level with 96 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Rivers United had all but put away. Plateau United will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Position 3, 56 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rivers United can pretend not to have heard.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 1‑0 win over Wikki Tourists, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The phone has started ringing about Adebayo Amoo again, and this time the name on the line is Wikki Tourists. Rivers United are listening politely and promising nothing.
2 behind and going nowhere, until Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari decided otherwise. Niger Tornadoes had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari provided it, and the 9.42 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 Rivers United can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rivers United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aniekeme Okon and Rivers United agree another 2 years.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tapji Dawit has, at Rivers United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Botev Plovdiv have kept their man, and Rivers United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 18 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.
Position 3, 47 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Rivers United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Djoliba, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Chukwueze Dennis after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Zaruma was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑4 to Remo Stars, 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. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rivers United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rivers United have done the hard part with Djoliba, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Tobi Alagbe 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Rivers United will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Barau had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad30 May 2033
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Zaruma 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.
Nobody at Rivers United 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rivers United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adebayo Amoo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Three points for Rivers United, 1‑0 the final word against Warri Wolves in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 May 2033
Gibril Sosseh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. 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.
8 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout16 May 2033
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.” Chukwueze Dennis kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Two goals and a mark of 9.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Usman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Rivers United and Rangers International, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A 4‑2 win over Rangers International, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rivers United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Aniekeme Okon 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 Mike Zaruma was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Rivers United 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.
The dugout28 Mar 2033
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.” Chukwueze Dennis kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
8 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rivers United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Position 3 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings21 Mar 2033
Ola Eze, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.15
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rivers United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match19 Mar 2033
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Rivers United. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 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.
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Usman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A 3‑2 win over El-Kanemi Warriors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Alex Oyowah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.49. 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.
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Mike Zaruma 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rivers United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Marked 8.21 — 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.
Squad21 Feb 2033
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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari provided it, and the 9.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Usman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tshidiso Monamodi and Rivers United agree another 1 years.
Player ratings14 Feb 2033
Gibril Sosseh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. 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.
“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 Rivers United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Feb 2033
Rivers United close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 7 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.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Words at Rivers United 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rivers United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rivers United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Rivers United, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Remo Stars left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Words at Rivers United 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 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.
In brief
The dugoutAniekeme Okon dropped after a run of poor form
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Rivers United asked and Partizani Tirana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Words at Rivers United 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.
8.00. 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.
The dugout10 Jan 2033
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 1‑2 Chukwueze Dennis left the room before anybody could ask which.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Annor 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.
Gibril Sosseh has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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 easiest signature of my career.” Aniekeme Okon and Rivers United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Squad6 Dec 2032
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Annor 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.
Nobody at Rivers United 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.
In brief
The dugoutGibril Sosseh knocks on the manager's door
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rivers United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gibril Sosseh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aniekeme Okon signs something — a contract at Rivers United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Rivers United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Annor 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 Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tshidiso Monamodi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Godwin Dede has written the date down.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rivers United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rivers United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
“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.
Squad18 Oct 2032
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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Squad11 Oct 2032
Isaac Annor 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 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 Alex Oyowah is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rivers United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Rivers United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Everything was agreed with Levski and then the doctor spoke. Rivers United have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Rivers United offered $110.0K; Rangers International said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Isaac Umar has, at Rivers United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rivers United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 3, 73 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Remo Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Douglas Iyowuna. The answer from Rivers United has not changed — yet.
11 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad30 Aug 2032
Isaac Annor 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.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rivers United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Niger Tornadoes for Muhammed Usman was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Friday Ubong damages knee ligaments — 120 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari provided it, and the 9.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Position 3, 65 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Rivers United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Partizani Tirana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paul Junior will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rivers United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Zadar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Stephen Manyo 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.
Rivers United have made the call to Cherno More. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Friday Ubong will call it something else in private.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rivers United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari provided it, and the 9.05 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 Rivers United, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Aniekeme Okon 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 phone has started ringing about Elias Ochiobi again, and this time the name on the line is Remo Stars. Rivers United are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari. 3‑1 against Nasarawa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two goals and a mark of 8.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Remo Stars for Sunday Chinedu was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ikorodu City have kept their man, and Rivers United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Rivers United have gone to Remo Stars 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tshidiso Monamodi and Rivers United agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A 3‑1 win over Shooting Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Barau will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Rivers United were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Rivers United will quote 19 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Aniekeme Okon 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: 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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari. 1‑0 against Warri Wolves, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad17 May 2032
Isaac Annor 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.26 — 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.
Squad10 May 2032
Isaac Annor 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.
Aniekeme Okon 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.
14 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Isaac Annor 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 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.
Nobody at Rivers United 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maclyn Biokpo Jenewari provided it, and the 8.75 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rivers United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tshidiso Monamodi and Rivers United agree another 1 years.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tshidiso Monamodi and Rivers United agree another 1 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 Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Apr 2032
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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Ikorodu City scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rivers United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rivers United can pretend not to have heard.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Aniekeme Okon 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 particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Katsina United tried to reorganise, Rivers United did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Marked 8.36 — 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Player ratingsGibril Sosseh beats them one at a time
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rivers United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Rivers United will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
8.13. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rivers United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rivers United 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 Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andy Ezekiel, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words at Rivers United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Annor 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 words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Wikki Tourists will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Rivers United were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings1 Mar 2032
Up for the corner, and Gibril Sosseh delivers — 7.88
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Gibril Sosseh scored, was marked 7.88, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Aniekeme Okon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2032
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.