Marked for Michael Atata
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uche Onyemaechi, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Alfred Odinaka 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Gift Udoh talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ikorodu City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Michael Atata
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Michael Atata is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alfred Odinaka, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Something was said to Chidera Oparaocha and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Aliu Salawudeen 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
Upbeat
Match23 Sep 2026
A 2‑0 win over Kun Khalifat, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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 terraces28 Sep 2026
At 23 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Uche Onyemaechi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Ikorodu City 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 bid was some way short and Ikorodu City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Naheem Odugbemi and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Ikorodu City asked and Shooting Stars 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
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
$570.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑6 by Remo Stars, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match19 Aug 2026
Rivers United are out and Ikorodu City go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match19 Aug 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ikorodu City scored in the 104th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ikorodu City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market24 Aug 2026
AS Police come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ikorodu City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
Kelechi Onwe 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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.