Marked for Abdullahi Mohammad
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 May 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Samuel Anini Jr. has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
A falling-out at TPS
Abdullahi Mohammad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 May 2028
Luke Ivanovic 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.
The terraces22 May 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdullahi Mohammad has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match20 May 2028
TPS get the job done against JIPPO
A 2‑0 win over JIPPO, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad22 May 2028
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad22 May 2028
Too much change too quickly at TPS
17 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.
Market22 May 2028
He is 19, and nobody at TPS signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout15 May 2028
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at TPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Timo Zaal 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.
Match13 May 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bastian Holm, and the manager let it.
Squad15 May 2028
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 May 2028
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout15 May 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
Tempers go at TPS
Abdullahi Mohammad 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 dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. Rasmus Harjanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at TPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timo Zaal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces8 May 2028
TPS supporters have found a favourite in Emmanuel Akpan
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Emmanuel Akpan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match6 May 2028
A 1‑0 win over SJK Akatemia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market8 May 2028
Matej Hradecký is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at TPS has been clear about where Matej Hradecký stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad8 May 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and TPS know it.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Marked 7.49 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, TPS had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout8 May 2028
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.” Saku Jensen, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings1 May 2028
Albijon Muzaci ran the middle of the pitch — 7.97
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 15 combined actions and a mark of 7.97, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad1 May 2028
Words exchanged at TPS
Abdullahi Mohammad 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 dugout1 May 2028
This is not rotation. Albijon Muzaci has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at TPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luke Ivanovic 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Albijon Muzaci scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Klubi 04, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Market1 May 2028
Luke Ivanovic is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at TPS has been clear about where Luke Ivanovic stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad1 May 2028
52 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matej Hradecký, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
Atte Sihvonen slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Atte Sihvonen is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout24 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Samuel Anini Jr. has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at TPS
Albijon Muzaci 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at TPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timo Zaal 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 terraces24 Apr 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdullahi Mohammad has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match22 Apr 2028
Three points for TPS, 2‑0 the final word against KäPa in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match22 Apr 2028
TPS end the wait against KäPa
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Apr 2028
15 new faces, and TPS 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Jerry Alex has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nnamdi Anthony 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Junior Aimufua
“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.
Loan watch17 Apr 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Kwara United, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Sunday Celeb in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 2028
The shirt still fits. Topi Valtonen is back at TPS, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at TPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A move Topi Valtonen would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Topi Valtonen is living that version at TPS, and it tends to show in the first month.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Rasmus Harjanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at TPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Otto Kemppainen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Atte Sihvonen knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Atte Sihvonen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Pau Juvanteny gets picked when it counts
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 Pau Juvanteny is on it.
Looking ahead10 Apr 2028
PK-35 next, and one man in the TPS dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at TPS would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at TPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets13 Mar 2028
TPS offered $72.0K; PK-35 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Rasmus Harjanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at TPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Atte Sihvonen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets13 Mar 2028
TPS asked and FC Fredericia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Antti Valakari and TPS agree another 3 years.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Elmo Henriksson has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at TPS 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Match13 Mar 2028
TPS have something to play for
Position 6 on 26 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces6 Mar 2028
Supporters organise against the Kwara United board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market6 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inter Turku waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market6 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kwara United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Jimoh Gbadamosi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Olaniyi Saheed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market6 Mar 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Kwara United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nnamdi Anthony was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Uche Jaguar
“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.
Match4 Mar 2028
A goal on 89 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
SJK come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and TPS did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Albijon Muzaci has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at TPS is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Atte Sihvonen and TPS agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets6 Mar 2028
$330.0K was the most the club would pay and SJK were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A falling-out at TPS
Albijon Muzaci and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Dayong Labwat arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dayong Labwat has, at TPS, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
FC Lahti will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Veikka Rättö has pre-agreed a move to TPS, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A row about effort at TPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Atte Sihvonen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Mar 2028
TPS asked and Ekenäs IF said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Feb 2028
7 matches without a win for Kwara United
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.
Market14 Feb 2028
The deal that would have taken Abdullahi Mohammad to Shooting Stars has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Kwara United with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Olanrewaju Ayinla has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Kwara United asked and České Budějovice said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nnamdi Anthony 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
39 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Feb 2028
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Philip Ozor 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kwara United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Match29 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Kwara United's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kwara United has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Adeshina Gata has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The deal with Kano Pillars 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
The name of Nurudeen Badmos has come up in conversations Kwara United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Olaniyi Saheed 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Nov 2027
Position 20, 21 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Jerry Alex has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise.
Market29 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kwara United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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 dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Sulyman Baraje's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Solomon Bukunmi, and the manager let it.
Market29 Nov 2027
Kwara United have made Junior Aimufua available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Sep 2027
A 2‑0 win over Bayelsa United, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match25 Sep 2027
0‑3 to Rivers United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market27 Sep 2027
“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 Kwara United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Kwara United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market27 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Olaniyi Saheed 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Nnamdi Anthony 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.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
He is 19 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces20 Sep 2027
Supporters organise against the Kwara United board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match18 Sep 2027
2‑6 against Remo Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match18 Sep 2027
8 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market20 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kwara United can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Olaniyi Saheed 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Kwara United and Remo Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Jul 2027
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kwara United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match12 Jul 2027
Position 20, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nasarawa United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Marked 7.87 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Match10 Jul 2027
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Kwara United have 3 straight wins of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
The knee: Muhammed Alao out for 139 days
139 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kwara United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match21 Apr 2027
A 1‑0 win over El-Kanemi Warriors, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match24 Apr 2027
Chastening afternoon for Kwara United
A 0‑3 beating by Barau was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Nurudeen Badmos: 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.” Kwara United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Olaniyi Saheed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Kwara United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nnamdi Anthony 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 terraces26 Apr 2027
At 20 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Olaniyi Saheed, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Babatunde Bright takes the afternoon — 8.84
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Babatunde Bright provided it, and the 8.84 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match9 Jan 2027
7 matches without a win for Kwara United
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Kwara United are no longer polite ones.
Market11 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kwara United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kwara United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Olaniyi Saheed 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Suraj Ayeleso
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
This is not rotation. Suleiman Yusuf has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kwara United is pretending otherwise.