Marked for Jonathan Atiemo
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Aug 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
70 days out for Adu Emmanuel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aduana Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aduana Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market28 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stephen Amankona commits to Aduana Stars for another 5 years.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Stephen Badu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
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Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Jul 2028
98 days out for Adu Emmanuel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aduana Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Stephen Badu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Wisdom Magbisa has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Aduana Stars have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Awuni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
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Squad31 Jul 2028
Aduana Stars are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Hammarby 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
King Decca is 19, and Aduana Stars have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jul 2028
Stephen Amankona damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
120 days out for Adu Emmanuel after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aduana Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
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Squad10 Jul 2028
Stephen Badu 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
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Inusah and Aduana Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets10 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 dugout10 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aduana Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
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Squad12 Jun 2028
Stephen Badu 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Awuni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Aduana Stars asked and VfL Wolfsburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jun 2028
The medical room confirms 40 days on the sidelines for Jonathan Bukari, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to Partizan: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
Adam Mustapha asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout12 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aduana Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 May 2028
Daniel Awuni 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Daouda Sidibé 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 dugout22 May 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.
The dugout22 May 2028
Alex Boakye knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Aduana Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 May 2028
Nobody at Aduana 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.
Squad22 May 2028
The training reports on Samuel Kuffour are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
The dugout22 May 2028
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Stephen Amankona has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aduana Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Stephen Badu 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Awuni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Mar 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.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
“I did not go to Great Olympics to sit and watch. I want to come back to Aduana Stars and fight for my place.” 12 appearances in 36 matches say the rest.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Alex Boakye asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Bechem United next, and one man in the Aduana Stars dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stephen Amankona’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.