Marked for Aderigbide Saheed
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Kwara United — 7.91
1 for Nnamdi Anthony, marked 7.91, 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Kwara United — 7.50
1 for Oladoye Ezekiel, marked 7.50, 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.
Squad12 Apr 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Kwara United and Warri Wolves, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad12 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 terraces12 Apr 2027
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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Marked 8.15 — 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Mar 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.
Squad29 Mar 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 Mar 2027
Yakub Ahmed is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad29 Mar 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alege Mahee, and the manager let it.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Kwara United can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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 Nurudeen Badmos is on it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kwara United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Next up at home: Rangers International, who go into it in position 14. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.61 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Market17 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Uche Jaguar 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 targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Orlando Pirates: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.