Marked for Abdul Mohammed
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Nov 2028
The wait goes on for Hasaacas
27 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.
The terraces6 Nov 2028
Anger at Hasaacas spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 Nov 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A one-man rearguard from Andre Ayew
There were 6 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.
Match4 Nov 2028
Hasaacas cannot find the net
5 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A falling-out at Hasaacas
Richmond Lamptey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Hasaacas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Listowel Amankona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
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.” Francis Bukari chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Hasaacas's wait for a win
26 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hasaacas has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Abdul Mohammed out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match30 Oct 2028
Hasaacas sink to position 15
0 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market30 Oct 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.
Market30 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hasaacas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match28 Oct 2028
Hasaacas cannot find the net
4 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.
Squad30 Oct 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Hasaacas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Listowel Amankona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match28 Oct 2028
New Edubiase United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Oct 2028
25 matches without a win for Hasaacas
The run now stands at 25, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Abdul Mohammed out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Richmond Lamptey 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
The goals have deserted Hasaacas
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Hasaacas can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Hasaacas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Listowel Amankona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Oct 2028
Inter Allies left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francis Ofori and Hasaacas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Oct 2028
24 matches without a win for Hasaacas
The run now stands at 24, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Oct 2028
36 days out for Abdul Mohammed after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hasaacas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match14 Oct 2028
Nowhere to hide for Hasaacas
0‑6 against Bechem United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match14 Oct 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Hasaacas
9 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Market16 Oct 2028
Andre Ayew has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hasaacas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Hasaacas
Richmond Lamptey 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.
Match14 Oct 2028
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hasaacas and Bechem United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Listowel Amankona 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Hasaacas
23 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.
The terraces9 Oct 2028
Anger at Hasaacas spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Abdul Mohammed out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match4 Oct 2028
Aduana Stars ended it 1‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match7 Oct 2028
Nowhere to hide for Hasaacas
0‑3 against Asante Kotoko, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match7 Oct 2028
Hasaacas leaking at the back
8 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The terraces9 Oct 2028
1-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Andrew Gyan, 20, steals the show — 7.70
Marked 7.70 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Sep 2028
The wait goes on for Hasaacas
21 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
50 days out for Abdul Mohammed after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hasaacas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match30 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by Liberty Professionals, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market2 Oct 2028
“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.
Match30 Sep 2028
Hasaacas leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Market2 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hasaacas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Richmond Lamptey commits to Hasaacas for another 3 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Hasaacas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Listowel Amankona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at Hasaacas
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
A falling-out at Hasaacas
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Sep 2028
20 matches without a win for Hasaacas
The run now stands at 20, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Sep 2028
57 days out for Abdul Mohammed after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hasaacas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Market25 Sep 2028
Andre Ayew 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 Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Sep 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Hasaacas
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Hasaacas
Abdul Ofori and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Andre Ayew
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Hasaacas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Adjei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.