Marked for Albert Schlupp
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Aug 2028
29 days out for Afriyie Partey after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WAFA will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A move Ayodeji Abayomi would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ayodeji Abayomi is living that version at WAFA, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at WAFA
Jonathan Amoah 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.
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
Medeama will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Kwadwo Gyan has pre-agreed a move to WAFA, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuel Inusah, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
Gladson Asante 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 WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Aug 2028
No fee and no drama: Ayodeji Abayomi has signed at WAFA, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
Market14 Aug 2028
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Albert Schlupp leaves WAFA the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at WAFA
Taiwo Olonisakin 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Andrew Kudus 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 dugout17 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Taiwo Olonisakin, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at WAFA
Jonathan Amoah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Andrew Kudus 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francis Owusu and WAFA agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“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 dugout11 Oct 2027
“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.
Market11 Oct 2027
The name of Andrew Kudus keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WAFA say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Jonathan Atiemo 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Albert Schlupp, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Gladson Wakaso'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 dugout21 Jun 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Afriyie Kyereh has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.