Marked for Thomas Appiah
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hearts of Oak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Friday Ubong out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hearts of Oak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Jul 2027
Hearts of Oak refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 73 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Bakary Haïdara and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Kelvin Osei Asibey, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Hamza Issah
“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 dugout12 Jul 2027
Yaw Amankwa has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market12 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hearts of Oak know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hearts of Oak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Jul 2027
100 days out for Friday Ubong after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hearts of Oak will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Bilal Yakubu had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad5 Jul 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Hearts of Oak will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer from Medeama for Martin Karikari was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad5 Jul 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of George Paaku
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hearts of Oak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Enyimba had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Albert Kwasi breaks a bone — 87 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hearts of Oak have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
George Paaku: 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.” Hearts of Oak have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market28 Jun 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 Hearts of Oak, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Jun 2027
29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Thomas Appiah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match14 Jun 2027
Position 2 and 73 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
104 days out for Albert Kwasi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hearts of Oak will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hearts of Oak may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Fee done, terms next for Kelvin Obeng
Hearts of Oak and Medeama have settled on $260.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market14 Jun 2027
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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The offer went to Medeama 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Thomas Appiah 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Asante Kotoko pay $200.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Rashid Sumaila 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 May 2027
Position 2 and 73 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market17 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 May 2027
Thomas Appiah 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Rashid Sumaila 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 dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Hamza Issah
“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 May 2027
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.
Market17 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hearts of Oak know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout17 May 2027
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 Asamoah Boateng Afriyie has written the date down.
The dugout17 May 2027
Sharif Shuaib knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hearts of Oak, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Thomas Appiah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Rashid Sumaila 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 dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of George Paaku
“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.
Market3 May 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 May 2027
Rocky Dwamena slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rocky Dwamena is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout3 May 2027
When it matters, Yaw Amankwa plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hearts of Oak may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Thomas Appiah 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Rashid Sumaila 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.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Ashanti Gold to sit and watch. I want to come back to Hearts of Oak and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdul Karim, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Ramzy Yussif 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 Ramzy Yussif is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Mar 2027
72 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match20 Mar 2027
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market22 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Thomas Appiah 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rashid Sumaila was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Enock Asubonteng
7 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justice Apaingolo, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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
Triumph
Squad15 Mar 2027
29 goals and a season average of 7.58. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match13 Mar 2027
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market15 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Sharif Shuaib
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sharif Shuaib will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hearts of Oak the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Thomas Appiah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashid Sumaila 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Hasaacas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Friday Ubong at his very best
Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Hearts of Oak.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Ashanti Gold to sit and watch. I want to come back to Hearts of Oak and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 31 matches say the rest.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.82, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market15 Feb 2027
Tromso come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Hearts of Oak did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Friday Ubong
21 goals and a season average of 7.49 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market15 Feb 2027
Sharif Shuaib has one foot out of the door
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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Whatever happens, Hearts of Oak do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bakary Haïdara 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thomas Appiah. 3‑1 against Inter Allies, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anthony Uzodimma 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 terraces15 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Rangers International had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market8 Feb 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 Hearts of Oak, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match6 Feb 2027
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Hearts of Oak. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad8 Feb 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Feb 2027
Whatever happens, Hearts of Oak do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Rashid Sumaila 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Hearts of Oak will try again when the window opens; Medeama may not be selling by then.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohammed Hussein 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hearts of Oak people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market1 Feb 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 Hearts of Oak, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Medeama; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Bakary Haïdara has come up in conversations Hearts of Oak were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Hearts of Oak close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Thomas Appiah 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashid Sumaila 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Enock Asubonteng
6 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Friday Ubong is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.47 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match16 Jan 2027
5 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Thomas Appiah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rashid Sumaila was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Friday Ubong. 3‑1 against Great Olympics, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Malien have kept their man, and Hearts of Oak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match9 Jan 2027
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Wa All Stars kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Hearts of Oak will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Thomas Appiah takes the afternoon — 9.07
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thomas Appiah provided it, and the 9.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market11 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Asante Kotoko waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Friday Ubong is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.44 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bakary Haïdara 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashid Sumaila 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.25 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 4‑4 draw with Wa All Stars leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Dec 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Hearts of Oak have 5 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Thomas Appiah 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Rashid Sumaila 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Friday Ubong is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.30 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match5 Dec 2026
Hearts of Oak make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Friday Ubong was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match28 Nov 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Hasaacas, and it could have been more.
Match30 Nov 2026
Position 2 and 32 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match28 Nov 2026
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad30 Nov 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 9.43 — 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rashid Sumaila was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Enock Asubonteng was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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
Triumph
Match12 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against BA All Stars, and it could have been more.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
George Paaku, 20, steals the show — 8.20
Marked 8.20 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Hearts of Oak offered $4.3M; Orlando Pirates 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Thomas Appiah 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Rashid Sumaila 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Sep 2026
This league is too small for Bakary Haïdara
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Hearts of Oak will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Hearts of Oak, another week without a signature from Friday Ubong.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“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 Hearts of Oak, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Hearts of Oak have gone to Orlando Pirates 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bilal Yakubu gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bilal Yakubu has just signed for Hearts of Oak, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 22 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Hearts of Oak 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Hearts of Oak did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Thomas Appiah 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 targets7 Sep 2026
Hearts of Oak asked and Heart of Lions said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
1 academy graduates step up at Hearts of Oak
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 Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anthony Uzodimma 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 terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohammed Yahaya 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.
Market31 Aug 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Kwesi Asmah sold
Asante Kotoko arrived with $400.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Kwesi Asmah has gone, the accounts have $400.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with RoPS, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets31 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.
Squad31 Aug 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Hearts of Oak spend $780.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $780.0K for Thomas Appiah, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Hearts of Oak have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A new face in his position, and Rashid Sumaila suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Hearts of Oak have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Thomas Appiah sold
Hearts of Oak arrived with $780.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Liberty Professionals will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer from Asante Kotoko for Mohammed Boateng was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Thomas Appiah has gone, the accounts have $780.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Liberty Professionals, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 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 Liberty Professionals this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Jeffrey Inusah is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. WAFA have kept their man, and Liberty Professionals go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Liberty Professionals 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: University of Pretoria keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Inter Allies for Bernard Schlupp was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Hearts of Oak asked and Hasaacas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Isa Aji 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. Isa Aji has, at Hearts of Oak, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthony Uzodimma was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Hearts of Oak know which stage they are at.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Liberty Professionals have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Liberty Professionals did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
Abdul Boakye 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 Liberty Professionals can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Kamaldeen Atiemo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Afful was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Liberty Professionals, and both men came out saying it was fine.