Marked for Usman Audu
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Emmanuel Jonas: 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.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at El-Kanemi Warriors training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Iddrisu 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tosin Olawale 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.
Market9 Nov 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Risilanu Ismail
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Salisu Ibrahim 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 El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El-Kanemi Warriors this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at El-Kanemi Warriors training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Iddrisu 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 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of George Micheal
“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 dugout26 Oct 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 El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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 Usman Abubakar is on it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Usman Audu is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El-Kanemi Warriors this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at El-Kanemi Warriors training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Iddrisu 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 Sep 2026
Usman Abubakar has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors 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 Sep 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at El-Kanemi Warriors. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Adamu Ibrahim has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and El-Kanemi Warriors will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad28 Sep 2026
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at El-Kanemi Warriors the difference is visible from the back of the stand.