The Kun Khalifat Chronicle
Match13 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Kun Khalifat
5 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Kun Khalifat
Michael Akano 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 ratings15 Feb 2027
Chikamso Amaefula beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Kun Khalifat
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chinonso Romanus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
William Akinola: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Jerry Ogu 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Point won or two lost for Kun Khalifat?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Kwara United? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Ugochukwu Akuta has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kun Khalifat 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Timilehin Olukotun still has not settled
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Kun Khalifat would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
In brief
- The dugout Ugochukwu Akuta does not fit this one
- Squad Onuorah Onyedika: “I am not a substitute”
- Player ratings Wisdom Obichere unlocks it