The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Wa All Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Seth Paintsil and Wa All Stars agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Paintsil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Christian 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Wa All Stars will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
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 Edmund Ofori is on it.
In brief
The dugoutIsaac Asamoah asks for a word with the manager
Seth Paintsil 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Isaac Asamoah and Wa All Stars agree another 3 years.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Wa All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Wa All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Isaac Asamoah is 18, and Wa All 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.
In brief
The dugoutEmmanuel Partey has become a man the manager trusts
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wa All Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Wa All Stars and Great Olympics have settled on $83.0K. 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.
Seth Paintsil 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.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Abdul Afful 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 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.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Wa All Stars have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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 offer from New Edubiase United for Kwadwo Kyereh 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.
Thomas Inusah 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.
Great Olympics wanted more than $86.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
Asante Kotoko 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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 agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Wa All Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Wa All Stars have gone to Great Olympics with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Thomas Inusah 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.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Seth Paintsil 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 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 Yakubu Saeed.
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.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wa All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Seth Paintsil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 May 2030
Kwadwo Ofori 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.
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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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 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 Seth Paintsil 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 Emmanuel Partey is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wa All Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jeffrey Sulemana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Felix Partey’s negotiating for him
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wa All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Paintsil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wa 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 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 Kwadwo Ofori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Wa All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harrison Appiah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wa All Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thomas Inusah 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 Seth Paintsil 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 Edmund Ofori 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 Wa All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Wa All Stars has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wa All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harrison Appiah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wa All Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thomas Inusah 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 Mar 2030
Seth Paintsil 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.
At 18 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Harrison Appiah.
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.
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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wa All Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwadwo Ofori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Osman Asante
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
Wa All Stars and New Edubiase United have settled on $310.0K. 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.
The bid was some way short and Wa All Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Wa All Stars close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 5 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.
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 Seth Paintsil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wa All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wa All Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdalla Hamisi has his answer from Wa All Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Looking aheadA test against the best for Wa All Stars
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bernard Bukari did not need any: 9.47, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Marked 9.92 — 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 words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
Christian 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.13, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
7.72, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Wa All Stars had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrew Mensah was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Wa All Stars dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutHarrison Appiah has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kwadwo Kyereh is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Paintsil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
Emmanuel Partey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. 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.
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.
2 behind and going nowhere, until Andre Mensah decided otherwise. Great Olympics had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 8.90 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
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.
Seth Paintsil 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Wa All Stars will try again when the window opens; New Edubiase United may not be selling by then.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Abdul Afful had Wa All Stars level again within 4 minutes, and Heart of Lions never got to play with a lead at all.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ernest Boateng and Wa All Stars agree another 3 years.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ismail Mukhtar has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Wa All Stars have gone to Berekum Chelsea with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Berekum Chelsea have kept their man, and Wa All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 phone has started ringing about Edmund Nuhu again, and this time the name on the line is Inter Allies. Wa All Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Andre Mensah is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The deal with Asante Kotoko 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. New Edubiase United have kept their man, and Wa All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
$440.0K settles it between the clubs for Yaw Mohammed
Berekum Chelsea have accepted the money. What Wa All Stars do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Wa 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wa All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Appiah is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ismail Mukhtar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wa All Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. New Edubiase United have kept their man, and Wa All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
Christian 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.
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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Everything agreed with Asante Kotoko, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Berekum Chelsea have kept their man, and Wa All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
Christian 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.
Hearts of Oak 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.
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.
Thomas Inusah 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Seth Paintsil 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 Edmund Ofori is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ismail Mukhtar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wa All Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Seth Paintsil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Thomas Inusah 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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 Appiah is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wa All Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Wa All Stars could ask drops and the wages Andre Addo can ask rise.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wa All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Seth Paintsil 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.
Christian 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Harrison Appiah has come out of that comparison in the side, and Wa All Stars have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrew Mensah was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Wa All Stars dressing room was either.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Wa All Stars and Liberty Professionals in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Abdul Afful was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.59. 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Seth Paintsil 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Paintsil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Aaron Pam
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Wa All Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wa All Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 Emmanuel Partey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Heart of Lions will replay every second of the added time for a week.
A 3‑2 win over Heart of Lions, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A performance of 9.51 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Seth Paintsil 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.
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.
At 20 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wa All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seth Paintsil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.26 — 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.” Andrew Mensah after 2‑3, 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.
A brace, and Abdul Afful takes the afternoon — 8.68
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdul Afful provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Thomas Inusah 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 easiest signature of my career.” Harrison Appiah and Wa All Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Seth Paintsil 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 8.14 — 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.
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.
Thomas Inusah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seth Paintsil 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrew Mensah after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutHarrison Appiah has become a man the manager trusts
A brace, and Abdul Afful takes the afternoon — 9.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdul Afful provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Thomas Inusah 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdul Afful. 3‑2 against Hearts of Oak, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwadwo Annan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andrew Mensah on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.