Marked for Thomas Owusu
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Aug 2028
Hasaacas say no — this time
The offer from Spartak Subotica for Andrew Djiku 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.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ebuka Akobundu has agreed terms with Aduana Stars for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Hasaacas
Bernard Appiah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Idris Ajiya and Hasaacas agree another 5 years.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lawal Muritala 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 dugout7 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Dari Haruna
“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.
Market7 Aug 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
When it matters, Nana Partey plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jul 2028
Ernest Gyan has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hasaacas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Bernard Appiah was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lawal Muritala 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
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.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Lawal Muritala
“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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Hasaacas have made the call to Ashanti Gold. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Idris Ajiya has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Hasaacas 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 dugout17 Jul 2028
The manager makes Dari Haruna a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hasaacas. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Andrew Kyereh
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Hasaacas will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Hasaacas
Bernard Appiah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Lawal Muritala falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ashanti Gold have kept their man, and Hasaacas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Dari Haruna
“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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thomas Owusu commits to Hasaacas for another 3 years.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
Nana Partey gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nana Partey is on it.
Market10 Jul 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Harrison Kudus may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Bernard 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nana Partey is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market19 Jun 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Andrew Djiku may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
When it matters, Idris Ajiya plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
The manager makes Abeiku Adjei a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hasaacas. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Hasaacas will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thapelo Ngcongo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Oct 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Hasaacas scored in the 117th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.10, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Hasaacas — 7.71
1 for Thapelo Ngcongo, marked 7.71, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Bernard 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Nana Partey 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 terraces18 Oct 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Nana Partey beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.