At 23 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.
Add another name to the list: Ghazl El Mahalla have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about a squad player. The answer from Wa All Stars has not changed — yet.
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Yaw Asamoah has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Schlupp 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.
Nobody at Wa All Stars 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Wa All Stars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jeffrey Owusu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wa All Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Wa All Stars have made the call to Warri Wolves. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Position 6, 49 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Wa All Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Wa All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Wa All Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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.
Wa All Stars asked and Plateau United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wa All Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
16 goals in 28 games at Heart of Lions — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wa All Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yaw Asamoah and Wa All Stars agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Afful 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wa All Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Wasiu Jimoh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Waris 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.
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 Harrison Boateng is on it.
In brief
The dugoutPatrick Kudus knocks on the manager’s door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Waris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wa All Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Waris 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 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
16 goals in 28 games at Heart of Lions — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wa All Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Schlupp 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.
Nobody at Wa All Stars 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.
New Edubiase United will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Wa All Stars were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 49 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wasiu Jimoh 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 easiest signature of my career.” Bernard Sulemana and Wa All Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Waris 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 ratings15 Mar 2027
David Partey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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 team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Felix Afful after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutErnest Ayew has become a man the manager trusts
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Ephson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Heart of Lions the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
The goal that put Hasaacas ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Heart of Lions equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sam Kuffour, and the manager let it.
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Thomas Ayew to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
SquadOne of our own is behind an import at Heart of Lions
15 goals in 24 games at Heart of Lions — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wa All Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Partey. 3‑1 against Liberty Professionals, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Waris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Wasiu Jimoh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.72. 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 dugout1 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.” Felix Afful kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals in one match, David Partey on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Wa All Stars and Great Olympics.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
David Partey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.84. 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.
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.
Lawrence Osei 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chauncy Freeman, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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.” Thomas Ayew chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ashanti Gold in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Heart of Lions would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
Jonathan Waris 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Felix Afful after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Wa All Stars 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Wa All Stars man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Wasiu Jimoh was the best thing in any of them.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Ephson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Heart of Lions the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kofi Asante 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.
Something was said to Michael Ephson and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 goals in 19 games at Heart of Lions — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wa All Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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 Harrison Boateng is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jonathan Waris’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Wa All Stars needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Medeama waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Heart of Lions is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Heart of Lions had all but put away. Liberty Professionals will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Wasiu Jimoh 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 Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ernest Ayew 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 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.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Marked 8.44 — 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 Dec 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 2‑3 Thomas Ayew left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Heart of Lions will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Heart of Lions will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Two goals and a mark of 9.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Heart of Lions made Wa All Stars work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Waris 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Mohammed provided it, and the 8.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Jonathan Waris 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.
Marked 7.26 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.
Minute 88, against Berekum Chelsea, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
A 2‑2 draw with Berekum Chelsea leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ernest Ayew 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Heart of Lions can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Kofi Asante 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ebenezer Abban 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.
Kofi Asante 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Heart of Lions, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
“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.
WAFA next, and one man in the Heart of Lions dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
He is 19 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout23 Nov 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.” Felix Afful kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ishmael Addo did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
He is 19 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.
Moses Ayidem 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Thomas Ayew could afford to be generous.
A brace, and David Partey takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Partey provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Waris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nana 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.
“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 dugout26 Oct 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Felix Afful to a room that had heard them before.
7 goals in 6 games at Heart of Lions — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wa All Stars updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Ephson and Heart of Lions agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ebenezer Abban was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 dugout19 Oct 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Thomas Ayew to a room that had heard them before.
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.
In brief
The dugoutKelvin Asenso has become a man the manager trusts
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
0‑1 to BA All Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Jeffrey Owusu has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The dugout19 Oct 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Felix Afful to a room that had heard them before.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ernest Ayew 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
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.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Edmund Djiku, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
In brief
The dugoutIbrahim Obansa asks for a word with the manager
Loan watcha squad player keeps scoring at Heart of Lions
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kwadwo Obeng Junior and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years.
Kofi Asante 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.
8.01. 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.
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.
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.
a squad player 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 Ebenezer Abban 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 Fawzi Ali, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 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 0‑2 Thomas Ayew left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Bechem United next, and one man in the Heart of Lions dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutSam Kuffour knocks on the manager’s door
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars 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 Waris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Lawrence Osei 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chauncy Freeman, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 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.” Thomas Ayew chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ebenezer Abban was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonathan Essien and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Great Olympics.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Heart of Lions has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: a squad player. 3‑1 against Aduana Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ebenezer Abban 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.
8.93. 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.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Abraham Asante has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Wasiu Jimoh has, at Wa All Stars, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is saying, and nobody at Wa All Stars is enjoying the guessing.
Wasiu Jimoh 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 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Owusu 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Wa All Stars, another week without a signature from Wasiu Jimoh.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Hasaacas will make the call about Harrison Ayew this week. Wa All Stars have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ebenezer Abban and Heart of Lions agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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 Heart of Lions this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Heart of Lions training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ebenezer Abban 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Heart of Lions, another week without a signature from Lawrence Osei.
Heart of Lions have made the call to Wa All Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Great Olympics have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about a squad player. The answer from Wa All Stars has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bendel Insurance have kept their man, and Wa All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Albert Owusu 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.
Wa All Stars have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Partey knocks on the manager's door