The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Azeez Falolu 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.
Akintunde Azeez 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.
Something was said to Aminu Okocha and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Ismail Muhd is on it.
New Edubiase United will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hearts of Oak were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emmanuel Amankwah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hearts of Oak the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hearts of Oak and New Edubiase United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Katsina United is running low.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joshua Enaholo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kabeer Jinadu 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Katsina United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 35, with 17 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
3 goals in 7 games at Hearts of Oak — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Katsina United updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Katsina United the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Great Olympics will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hearts of Oak were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A brace, and David Atanga takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Atanga provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hearts of Oak have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Hearts of Oak, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rashid Sumaila and Hearts of Oak agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Richard Boadu 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.
He is 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
19 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
4 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.
Lautaro Valenti 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
8 goals in one match, Hamza Issah on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hearts of Oak and Aduana Stars.
Squad20 Sep 2027
David Atanga has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bendel Insurance keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshua Enaholo 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.
Kabeer Jinadu 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.
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.
Marked 8.13 — 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Charlton Athletic have kept their man, and Hearts of Oak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hearts of Oak they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Hearts of Oak offered $1.0M; Asante Kotoko 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.
The offer went to Aduana 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.
Richard Boadu 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hearts of Oak have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything agreed with Katsina United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Hearts of Oak had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Nasarawa United, 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Atanga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Afriyie Appiah and Hearts of Oak agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Hearts of Oak 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.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hearts of Oak waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Katsina United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joshua Enaholo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. El-Kanemi Warriors have kept their man, and Katsina United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Daniel Agara 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.
78 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hearts of Oak can pretend not to have heard.
Hearts of Oak had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at DAC Dunajska Streda, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Amos Partey is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Atiemo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bernard Paintsil is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Hearts of Oak have made the call to Nasarawa United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Daniel Agara is in the works
Samson Obi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wikki Tourists have kept their man, and Katsina United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
12 combined actions and 7.08. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Agara again, and this time the name on the line is Hearts of Oak. Katsina United are listening politely and promising nothing.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Katsina United have done the hard part with Wikki Tourists, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Jamilu Yusuf had Katsina United level again within 3 minutes, and Shooting Stars never got to play with a lead at all.
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.
Katsina United asked and Barau said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
78 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Hearts of Oak have made the call to Katsina United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
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 Ali Mohammed has written the date down.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Kano Pillars kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Katsina United will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Two goals and a mark of 9.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Samson Obi 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Azeez Falolu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Agara again, and this time the name on the line is Hearts of Oak. Katsina United are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Katsina United asked and Nasarawa 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshua Enaholo 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.
Usman Barau 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Azeez Falolu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Bayelsa United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Azeez Falolu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Ikorodu City had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ademola Kalu after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Azeez Falolu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
A 3‑1 win over Rivers United, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Uche Collins takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uche Collins provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Azeez Falolu scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Niger Tornadoes, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
He is 21 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.
The goal that put Rivers United ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Katsina United equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
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 dugout19 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Ademola Kalu to a room that had heard them before.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Akintunde Azeez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Katsina United needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Agara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
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 David Onovo is on it.
Samson Obi 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.
1‑3 to Abia Warriors, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
Nasarawa United next, and one man in the Katsina United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Agara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.83 for the rest of it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Azeez Falolu and Katsina United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Samson Obi 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Azeez Falolu 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ademola Kalu was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Katsina United dressing room was either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Azeez Falolu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Usman Barau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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 Ademola Kalu left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Azeez Falolu is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Daniel Agara 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 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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
He is 23 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.
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 dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ademola Kalu was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Katsina United dressing room was either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Katsina United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Samson Obi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Katsina United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
1 for Sani Faisal, marked 7.89, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Samson Obi 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Azeez Falolu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Umar Yusuf 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kwara United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Onovo has become a man the manager trusts
Player ratingsThe afternoon ran through Samson Obi
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aduana Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Katsina United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Katsina United can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Katsina United close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Katsina United offered $160.0K; Abia Warriors 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Azeez Falolu 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.
Katsina United have gone to Abia Warriors 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 unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Azeez Falolu 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.
Daniel Agara 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Uche Collins was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Minute 93, against Kun Khalifat, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
It needed Akintunde Azeez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Kun Khalifat, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Katsina United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Katsina United can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Ikorodu City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Samson Obi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Agara and Katsina United agree another 4 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
He is 23 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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. El-Kanemi Warriors kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Katsina United will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
The name of Daniel Agara has come up in conversations Katsina United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.93 beside his 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 Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nnamdi Nwankwo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ikechukwu Nwakali has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Azeez Falolu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Medeama training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tashreeq Matthews 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 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jeffrey Kudus, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at Medeama 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 dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Jacob Mensah
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Azeez Falolu 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ismaila Mayaki and Katsina United agree another 1 years.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Katsina United will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.31, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Daniel Agara takes the afternoon — 8.88
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Agara provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Medeama this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 goals in one match, Tashreeq Matthews on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Medeama and Hearts of Oak.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tashreeq Matthews was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Azeez Falolu 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 Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Adama Traoré 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tashreeq Matthews was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nicholas Ablido is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Azeez Falolu 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 Muhammad Suleiman is on it.
Samson Obi 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 Azeez Falolu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Usman Barau and Katsina United agree another 2 years.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yusuf Abdulmumini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A brace, and Adama Traoré takes the afternoon — 8.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adama Traoré provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
He is 23 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Medeama. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Victor Oduro 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Marked 9.98 — 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.
Yussif Mubarik 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.
He is 21 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Bechem United tried to reorganise, Medeama did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Katsina United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Akintunde Azeez 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michael Okoro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The captaincy has been taken off Joshua Enaholo. Katsina United will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tashreeq Matthews was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fuzy Taylor, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jeffrey Kudus was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Medeama dressing room was either.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Great Olympics? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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 Ibrahim Nurudeen is on it.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.09, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Yussif Mubarik 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.
He is 23 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Katsina United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Samson Obi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Azeez Falolu 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 Katsina 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.
Aduana Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Medeama were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Adama Traoré 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Medeama and Aduana Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 19 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jacob Mensah
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutAndy Ezekiel knocks on the manager’s door
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Katsina United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Samson Obi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Azeez Falolu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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 Jamilu Yusuf is on it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tashreeq Matthews provided it, and the 9.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Daniel Agara takes the afternoon — 9.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Agara provided it, and the 9.70 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 Medeama, 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 Medeama this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tashreeq Matthews was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. BA All Stars spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
A point taken on 95 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 3‑3 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Medeama have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Daniel Agara, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.67
A mark of 8.67 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.
Adama Traoré 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tashreeq Matthews was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Medeama are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Jeffrey Kudus could afford to be generous.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Paul Yeboah
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daniel Agara did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Medeama 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.
Adama Traoré 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Medeama training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tashreeq Matthews 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. El-Kanemi Warriors have kept their man, and Medeama go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 21 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrew Wakaso has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Medeama have done the hard part with Djoliba, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Andy Ezekiel 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
Medeama spend $3.6M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $3.6M for Tashreeq Matthews, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PWD Bamenda have kept their man, and Medeama go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Medeama waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Katsina United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Samson Obi 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdullahi Osimhen has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Michael Nwankwo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Henry Omeruo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The deal with Katsina United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Medeama this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Medeama asked and Bendel Insurance said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Patrick Annan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniel Ofori has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Emmanuel Addo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Osman Mohammed has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael Okoro and Katsina United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Uche Collins was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.95. 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.
14 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Katsina United and Barau in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yussif Mubarik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Medeama this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Medeama have made the call to Bendel Insurance. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.