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.
Ludwig Małachowski Thorell 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jippe Caes has just signed for IK Start, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at IK Start training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Håkon Lorentzen 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 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.
Victor Dawa 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Plateau United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Isaac Akinola after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Plateau United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dickson Ibrahim 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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Niger Tornadoes in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nobody at Plateau 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Plateau United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Rivers United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Paul Magit commits to Plateau United for another 4 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Gimba Ajiji
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gimba Ajiji has come out of that comparison in the side, and Plateau United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Plateau United have done the hard part with Maritimo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Plateau United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at SuperSport United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Victor Dawa 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. 6 goals between Plateau United and Kwara United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Plateau United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gimba Ajiji trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Victor Dawa 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 Mustapha Abdullahi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Yahaya Ibrahim is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
The dugoutGimba Ajiji knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Plateau United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Plateau United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dickson Ibrahim 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Plateau United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Victor Dawa 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 Ikouwem Utin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gafar Saka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Plateau United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Okechukwu is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Victor Dawa 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.
“I watch every Plateau United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Berekum Chelsea runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Plateau United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Plateau United has been clear about where Mafeng Pam stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.” Isaac Akinola kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Plateau United told Mafeng Pam something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ajax Cape Town is saying, and nobody at Plateau United is enjoying the guessing.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Plateau United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Plateau United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Dickson Ibrahim has come up in conversations Plateau United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.