Marked for Adamu Mohammad
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Adamu Mohammad out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kun Khalifat will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
Emmanuel Okoh hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kun Khalifat can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kun Khalifat may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Kun Khalifat's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kun Khalifat has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
At 22 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kano Pillars have kept their man, and Kun Khalifat go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Michael Akano 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
A goal on 92 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Lekan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Adamu Mohammad out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kun Khalifat will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 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 Kun Khalifat can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The deal with Remo Stars 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. James Ebuka is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
3 academy graduates step up at Kun Khalifat
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.
Match2 Jan 2027
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Michael Akano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market4 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sunday 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
30 days out for Adamu Mohammad after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kun Khalifat will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kun Khalifat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Blessed Iyamu'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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Okoh, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Adamu Mohammad out for 37 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kun Khalifat will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Dec 2026
At 22 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Damilola Salami for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Kun Khalifat will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
44 days out for Adamu Mohammad after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kun Khalifat will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
At 22 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Hassan Olubode 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Blessed Iyamu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Dec 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Sunday Adehi'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.