Thamsanqa Jali

Striker - Barau
8 Oct 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Thamsanqa Jali

108 Edition

The Barau Courier

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Ibrahim Yahaya runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The terraces

Anger at Barau spills outside the ground

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.

Market

Nana Kwame hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Barau can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Godwin Akpo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barau is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

4 matches without a win for Barau

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Barau are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Usman Maidubuji stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Usman Maidubuji and Barau agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Barau

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Market

Eyes on Henry Ezeonye again

The phone has started ringing about Henry Ezeonye again, and this time the name on the line is Rivers United. Barau are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Diego Lorensi 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.

In brief

Back issues
100 Edition

The Barau Courier

26 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Barau spills outside the ground

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.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Yahaya runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

No end in sight to Barau's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barau has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Nana Kwame asks to leave Barau

“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.

Market

Nana Kwame is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barau is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Ibrahim Yahaya in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barau this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Diego Lorensi 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Usman Maidubuji

“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.

Match

Wikki Tourists take the points off Barau

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief