It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Albert Bukari 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.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Patrick Blanchard after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nana Nuhu has his answer from BA All Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: BA All Stars enter the window
Supporters organise against the BA All Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.12 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
6 goals in one match, Jeffrey Annan on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of BA All Stars and WAFA.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
He is 18 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.79 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abraham Mensah. 2‑0 against Hasaacas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Patrick Blanchard could afford to be generous.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abraham Acquah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonathan Ayew and BA All Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
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 1‑2 Patrick Blanchard left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at BA 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Nana Nuhu
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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Berekum Chelsea will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Harrison Paintsil and BA All Stars agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Acquah 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” BA All Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jeffrey Annan 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 18 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and New Edubiase United were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
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.” Patrick Blanchard kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Dehinde Ibrahim scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Inter Allies, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Albert Bukari 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Patrick Blanchard after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at BA All Stars 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nana Nuhu’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and BA All Stars needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Patrick Blanchard after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Dehinde Ibrahim 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrew Kudus and BA All Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Patrick Blanchard to a room that had heard them before.
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 Jeffrey Annan is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at BA All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Dehinde Ibrahim’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to BA All Stars.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Wa All Stars tried to reorganise, BA All Stars did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Jeffrey Annan 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 goals in one match, Jeffrey Annan on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of BA All Stars and Asante Kotoko.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Patrick Blanchard made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari 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.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Abdul Afful is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Abdul Afful is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
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.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at BA All Stars was different afterwards.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BA All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Dehinde Ibrahim was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.25. 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Albert Bukari 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 easiest signature of my career.” Albert Asamoah and BA All Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Baba Adjei clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.81, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
BA All Stars close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 4 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.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
BA All Stars asked and Berekum Chelsea said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adama Soumare commits to BA All Stars for another 3 years.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
BA All Stars and Berekum Chelsea have settled on $540.0K. 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 loan enquiry to Heart of Lions: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
Aduana Stars have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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 Albert Bukari is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jeffrey Annan signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at BA All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Supporters organise against the BA All Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jeffrey Annan is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Jeffrey Annan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Abdul Afful 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Great Olympics have kept their man, and BA All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
BA All Stars have made the call to Hasaacas. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Jeffrey Annan is on it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Baba Adjei has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The clubs have shaken hands with Hasaacas; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Bechem United 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.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
In brief
SquadAlbert Bukari falls out with a teammate over standards
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a 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 BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Albert Bukari 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.
Nobody at BA 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.
In brief
The dugoutJeffrey Owusu knocks on the manager’s door
The mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 loan enquiry to Berekum Chelsea: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Chesterfield had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Baba Adjei has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The offer from Dila for Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
“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 BA All Stars, 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 BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$35.0K on the table at Heart of Lions. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Joseph Afful has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means BA All Stars have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have shaken hands with Inter Allies; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Add another name to the list: Chesterfield have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jeffrey Annan. The answer from BA All Stars has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BA All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. BA All Stars will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Albert Bukari is on it.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
Supporters make their feelings known about Jeffrey Annan
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. BA All Stars would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around BA All Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Position 14 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The deal with Inter Allies 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.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. BA All Stars will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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 Jeffrey Annan is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Baba Adjei has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. New Edubiase United have kept their man, and BA All Stars 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Nana Nuhu
The dugoutJeffrey Owusu asks for a word with the manager
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jeffrey Annan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwadwo Wakaso 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 Albert Bukari is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jeffrey Annan signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Albert Asamoah
The dugoutAhmed Adams knocks on the manager’s door
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Albert Bukari 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.
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 Jeffrey Annan is on it.
In brief
The dugoutKwadwo Wakaso knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Abraham Mensah's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at BA All Stars no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Osman Partey trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jeffrey Annan signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at BA All Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Albert Bukari 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.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jeffrey Annan and BA All Stars agree another 5 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 Abdul Afful is on it.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Baba Adjei has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Liberty Professionals go through and BA All Stars go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dehinde Ibrahim and BA All Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Baba Adjei to a room that had heard them before.
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 Albert Bukari is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Position 14 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jeffrey Annan did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Berekum Chelsea left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
Adama Soumare 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.
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jeffrey Annan did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 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.
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 Abdul Afful is on it.
Supporters organise against the BA All Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jeffrey Annan 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 91 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 124 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Jeffrey Annan scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Asante Kotoko, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baba Adjei after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 140 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.84, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
BA All Stars close the window on a squad of their own making
0 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.26, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
2‑3 to Great Olympics, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
147 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Jeffrey Annan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.57
A mark of 8.57 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at BA All Stars is running low.
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” BA All Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BA All Stars have done the hard part with Aduana Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have shaken hands with Great Olympics; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Albert Bukari 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.
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 Abdul Afful is on it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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 BA 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Baba Adjei on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 Albert Bukari is on it.
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Albert Bukari 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.
Ahmed Adams 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.
“I watch every BA All Stars game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dila runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
17 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kamaldeen Essien and BA All Stars agree another 3 years.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Abdul Afful is on it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Looking ahead20 Dec 2027
BA All Stars take on the side everybody is chasing
Hearts of Oak arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. BA All Stars told Youssouf Toure something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
16 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 BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between BA All Stars and Heart of Lions, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Half the programme played, position 15, 3 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 3‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
SquadAbraham Acquah falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Nana Nuhu
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around BA All Stars are no longer polite ones.
The terraces6 Dec 2027
The mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jeffrey Annan did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Youssouf Toure and BA All Stars agree another 2 years.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baba Adjei after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jeffrey Annan did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Jeffrey Annan 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then New Edubiase United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
12 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.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Albert Bukari 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baba Adjei after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at BA 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.
Something was said to Albert Asamoah and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
11 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gladson Paintsil and BA All Stars agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 6.72 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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 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.
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 Abdul Afful is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Albert Bukari 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 held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. BA All Stars answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Jeffrey Annan 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.
Abdul Afful scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Medeama, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baba Adjei after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdul Afful's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Albert Bukari has improved at 27, 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.
5 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Albert Bukari 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Baba Mohammed 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Francis Appiah is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A season average of 7.90 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. BA All Stars know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Add another name to the list: Konyaspor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jeffrey Annan. The answer from BA All Stars has not changed — yet.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Albert Bukari and BA All Stars agree another 3 years.
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
The terraces30 Aug 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Jeffrey Annan
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. BA All Stars would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BA All Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Wadi Degla for Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
Jeffrey Annan 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 Jul 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Youssouf Toure's mistake
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at BA All Stars
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Albert Bukari 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 name of Kwadwo Wakaso has come up in conversations BA All Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
New Edubiase United pay $900.00, 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Kwadwo Wakaso 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.
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 Kamaldeen Essien is on it.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutJoseph Essien knocks on the manager’s door
139 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. BA All Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nana Afful has his answer from BA All Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at BA 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.
BA All Stars and Hasaacas have settled on $210.0K. 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.
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at BA All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Abdul Afful’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Jeffrey Annan 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 Albert Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdul Mumini Salifu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Dehinde Ibrahim 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Kamaldeen Essien has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at BA All Stars is running low.
Albert Bukari 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.
In brief
SquadAbdul Afful falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Jeffrey Annan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Bukari 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 Kamaldeen Essien is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jeffrey Annan signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The mood at BA All Stars has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Position 12 on 30 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BA All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abraham Acquah and BA All Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Albert Bukari 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.