“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 The request is on a desk at Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Harrison Baba 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hasaacas has been clear about where Kwadwo Boakye stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hasaacas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The phone has started ringing about Harrison Baba again, and this time the name on the line is Bechem United. Hasaacas are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer from WAFA for Thomas Atiemo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Andrew Asante 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.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Hasaacas no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
In brief
The dugoutAbdul Atiemo knocks on the manager’s door
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Afriyie Inusah and Hasaacas agree another 3 years.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hasaacas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hasaacas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Harrison Baba 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thomas Atiemo is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daouda Djenepo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Harrison Baba 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrew Asante was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jonathan Partey 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
Harrison Baba 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 Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
Harrison Baba 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
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kwadwo Addo signs something — a contract at Hasaacas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
The coaching staff have set Emmanuel Amoah something separate to do. Whether it is a weakness being addressed or a strength being sharpened, nobody outside the building will know until it shows up on a Saturday.
Position 10 on 38 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Harrison Baba 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
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
Marked 7.16 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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 Hasaacas, and 0 appearances in 37 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kwame Djiku was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Hasaacas dressing room was either.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Kwadwo Waris scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to WAFA, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Andrew Asante 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.
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Hasaacas have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Hearts of Oak will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑1 win over Hearts of Oak, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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.” Kwame Djiku, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at Hasaacas is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
Marked 6.84 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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.
Harrison Baba 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
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
At 23 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Kwame Djiku could afford to be generous.
The name of Harrison Baba has come up in conversations Hasaacas were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hasaacas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Felix Appiah is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
At 22 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
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.” Kwame Djiku kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Albert Mohammed has his answer from Hasaacas; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
Harrison Baba 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 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Hasaacas, and 0 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Kwame Djiku to a room that had heard them before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
Harrison Baba 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 Feb 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Harrison Baba’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Hasaacas.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Harrison Baba was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Jonathan Partey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Isaac Kyereh and Hasaacas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Kwame Djiku to a room that had heard them before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Add another name to the list: Mamelodi Sundowns have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Harrison Baba. The answer from Hasaacas has not changed — yet.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Hasaacas close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 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.
Harrison Baba 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 Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
Marked 8.39 — 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of David Gyan
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Wa All Stars kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Hasaacas will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Harrison Baba 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 Andrew Asante was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wa All Stars have kept their man, and Hasaacas 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.” Kwame Djiku after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hasaacas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything agreed with Aduana Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Jonathan Partey 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.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samuel Adjei commits to Hasaacas for another 4 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrew Asante 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Medeama were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. WAFA have kept their man, and Hasaacas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daouda Djenepo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Harrison Baba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Hasaacas had all but put away. Hearts of Oak will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kwame Djiku was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Hasaacas dressing room was either.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon ran through Kwadwo Waris
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daouda Djenepo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutJonathan Partey is still being punished for one mistake
Harrison Baba 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
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
“I watch every Hasaacas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ashanti Gold runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Kwame Djiku chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Harrison Baba 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Partey 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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Abdul Essien is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Marked 3.96. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Jonathan Partey 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 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thomas Owusu and Hasaacas agree another 3 years.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Kwame Djiku to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Nobody at Hasaacas is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Hasaacas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ashanti Gold runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Felix Appiah's mistake
Harrison Baba 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.
A 1‑0 win over Bechem United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
A mark of 7.87, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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.” Kwame Djiku, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Hasaacas than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
11 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
2‑5 against Asante Kotoko, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
4 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hasaacas and Asante Kotoko in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.95, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
1‑6 against Liberty Professionals, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
1-6, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
At 18 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Hasaacas and Liberty Professionals, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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.
Afriyie Inusah 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thomas Atiemo is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Andrew Asante is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nobody at Hasaacas is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Jonathan Partey 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Afriyie Inusah. 3‑1 against Wa All Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Kwadwo Waris was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. 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.
Marked 8.04 — 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.
The dugout28 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.” Kwame Djiku kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Hasaacas have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Jonathan Partey 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 Daouda Djenepo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daouda Djenepo, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Kwame Djiku left the room before anybody could ask which.
11 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Thomas Owusu, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
A brace, and Kwadwo Addo takes the afternoon — 8.64
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwadwo Addo provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Harrison Baba 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Kwame Djiku could afford to be generous.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Hasaacas have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
“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 Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
2 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Harrison Baba 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Paintsil is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Isaac Boateng is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Thomas Atiemo has moved up it.
Gladson 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.