Marked for Teymour Mohammed
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Aug 2028
59 days out for Seth Paintsil after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Great Olympics will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market28 Aug 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Great Olympics have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market28 Aug 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Great Olympics, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Seth Paintsil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Great Olympics asked and New Edubiase 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 dugout28 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Mohammed Seidu
“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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwandile Gumemde 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 dugout28 Aug 2028
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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Great Olympics will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
Seth Paintsil breaks a bone — 90 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Great Olympics, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with New Edubiase United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market31 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Isreal Kingsley will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Great Olympics the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
The offer went to Inter Allies this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Seth Paintsil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“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 dugout31 Jul 2028
Seidu Ismaila gets picked when it counts
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 Seidu Ismaila is on it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Great Olympics will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 Great Olympics, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Great Olympics is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Eric Oteng and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
The offer went to BA All Stars this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Micheal Adenodi, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
When it matters, Eric Oteng plays
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 dugout26 Jun 2028
Seth Paintsil knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Great Olympics, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Great Olympics have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
$71.0K settles it between the clubs for Samuel Okai
Bechem United have accepted the money. What Great Olympics do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Eric Oteng 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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
$5.0K on the table at BA All 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 dugout12 Jun 2028
“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 dugout12 Jun 2028
Steven Nufour has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Great Olympics 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
The manager makes Matthew Agama a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Great Olympics. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Isreal Kingsley will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Great Olympics the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Baba Mensah and Great Olympics agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Seth Paintsil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Paul Yeboah
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Paul Yeboah has come out of that comparison in the side, and Great Olympics have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout8 May 2028
Seth Paintsil knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Great Olympics, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rahman Abdul, and the manager let it.
Market8 May 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout8 May 2028
Seidu Ismaila gets picked when it counts
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 Seidu Ismaila is on it.
The dugout8 May 2028
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 Mohammed Seidu has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 May 2028
Steven Nufour hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Great Olympics can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Great Olympics this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evans Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Seidu, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 May 2028
Eric Oteng gets picked when it counts
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 Eric Oteng is on it.
Market1 May 2028
Seidu Ismaila is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Great Olympics has been clear about where Seidu Ismaila stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout1 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Micheal Adenodi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market1 May 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Great Olympics, another week without a signature from Prince Otubua.
Squad1 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Great Olympics would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
Eric Oteng 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramzy Yussif, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Jonah Aryeetey has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Great Olympics 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.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aduana Stars in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market15 Nov 2027
The Joshua Baba talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Great Olympics know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Great Olympics will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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 Kwandile Gumemde has written the date down.
Squad15 Nov 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Great Olympics has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Teymour Mohammed: 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.” Great Olympics have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Eric Oteng 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Evans Mensah 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.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Eric Oteng beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match23 Oct 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Francis Ofori
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Joseph Djiku after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Micheal Adenodi
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.
Market25 Oct 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Great Olympics has been clear about where Teymour Mohammed stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Oct 2027
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Isreal Kingsley scored in the 85th minute, Bechem United had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Great Olympics took the lot.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
No sign of nerves from Isreal Kingsley at 18 — 8.20
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Isreal Kingsley did not need any: 8.20, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad18 Oct 2027
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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Eric Oteng 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 terraces18 Oct 2027
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.
In brief
-
The dugout
No hiding place for Torric Jebrin
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
Jonah Aryeetey has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Aug 2027
Eric Oteng 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 Aug 2027
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Torric Jebrin, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Ibrahim Ayoola knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Great Olympics, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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 Jonah Aryeetey is on it.
Market23 Aug 2027
Great Olympics have let the market know Torric Jebrin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
“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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Great Olympics have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Seth Paintsil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market9 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Torric Jebrin has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Great Olympics.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Seidu Ismaila and Great Olympics agree another 1 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Great Olympics will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“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 Aug 2027
Damien Bricks gets picked when it counts
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 Damien Bricks is on it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Eric Oteng 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Torric Jebrin, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 2027
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 Jonah Aryeetey is on it.
The dugout3 May 2027
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 Ibrahim Ayoola has written the date down.
The dugout3 May 2027
Mathew Abayase asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Apr 2027
Position 13 on 28 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Great Olympics this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Teymour Mohammed 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Evans Oppong
“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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.65 on the card, and the Great Olympics support went home talking about one name.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
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.” Joseph Djiku kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Baba Mensah has to sit this one out
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Great Olympics lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Mar 2027
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.
Match20 Mar 2027
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evans Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Steven Nufour 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kwandile Gumemde, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
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.” Joseph Djiku chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Match20 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Ashanti Gold will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Great Olympics's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Great Olympics has to find a result from somewhere.
Match13 Mar 2027
4 matches without a goal for Great Olympics
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Seth Paintsil 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
0‑2 to Wa All Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Eric Oteng
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The team sheet said everything about Torric Jebrin
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Torric Jebrin.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Matthew Agama 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Steven Nufour
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Great Olympics lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 Feb 2027
14 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Hearts of Oak were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Patrick Ayew breaks a bone — 34 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A one-man rearguard from Joshua Baba
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Thomas Inusah, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.95
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Great Olympics can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evans Mensah 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 terraces8 Feb 2027
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.
Match6 Feb 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Thomas Inusah’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Great Olympics.