Daniel Asante

Central Midfielder - Hasaacas
30 Sep 2040
Sunday
Process

Marked for Daniel Asante

734 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

20 Aug 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Albert Acquah breaks a bone — 75 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Hasaacas

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

In brief

Back issues
726 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

25 Jun 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Kwesi Asmah damages knee ligaments — 120 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Hasaacas

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hasaacas is running low.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

In brief

723 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

4 Jun 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

David Atiemo has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hasaacas can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Squad

Daniel Asante signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Asante commits to Hasaacas for another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Squad

Samuel Isife 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

When it matters, Albert Wakaso 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.

Boardroom

Hasaacas pull $1.8M back off the table

The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.

In brief

  • Market The Albert Acquah story refuses to die
  • Boardroom The Hasaacas production line keeps running
  • Boardroom Hasaacas were not finished after all
722 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

28 May 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Hasaacas

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hasaacas is running low.

Squad

Felix Appiah says Hasaacas went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Karikari 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.

In brief

718 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

30 Apr 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Hasaacas boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Karikari 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.

In brief

708 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

20 Feb 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Albert Wakaso, 34, rolls back the years — 7.89

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Daniel Asante 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.

Match

Albert Wakaso’s goal not enough for Hasaacas

Albert Wakaso scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Berekum Chelsea, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Isife 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Albert Acquah

“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.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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.

In brief

707 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

13 Feb 2040
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Martin Karikari scores twice — 8.19

Two goals and a mark of 8.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

A brace, and Daniel Asante takes the afternoon — 8.11

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Asante provided it, and the 8.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

Hasaacas get the job done against New Edubiase United

A 6‑5 win over New Edubiase United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Match

11 goals as Hasaacas and New Edubiase United go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Hasaacas and New Edubiase United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Martin Karikari 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

Samuel Isife gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Mohammed Annan

Marked 8.16 — 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.

Squad

5 past Albert Acquah

Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 2 saves does not settle it either way.

In brief

704 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

23 Jan 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

A brace, and Sulaiman Yusuf takes the afternoon — 8.04

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sulaiman Yusuf provided it, and the 8.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Gladson Afful keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hasaacas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Hasaacas

6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Match

Hasaacas come up short against Asante Kotoko

Asante Kotoko left with the points after a 3‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Match

Sulaiman Yusuf among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, Sulaiman Yusuf on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hasaacas and Asante Kotoko.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

Squad

5 past Albert Acquah

Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Mohammed Annan

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

703 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

16 Jan 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Age has not caught Daniel Asante yet — 8.09

At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.09 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Bernard Kyereh keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hasaacas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Match

Hasaacas leaking at the back

5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Match

Mohammed Annan sends Hasaacas past Liberty Professionals

It finished 3‑2, and it was Mohammed Annan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Hasaacas.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

When it matters, Amadu Baldé 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.

Market

The Albert Acquah story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Albert Acquah signs something — a contract at Hasaacas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Market

Samuel Gyan leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Samuel Gyan leaves Hasaacas the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

701 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

2 Jan 2040
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Hasaacas 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.

Squad

11 seasons of Yaw Osei

367 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Hasaacas know what they have.

Squad

Amadu Baldé stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Amadu Baldé and Hasaacas agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

6 goals as Hasaacas and Wa All Stars go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hasaacas and Wa All Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Albert Wakaso’s goal not enough for Hasaacas

Albert Wakaso scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Wa All Stars, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

700 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

26 Dec 2039
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Hasaacas taken apart

1‑4 to Aduana Stars, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

698 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

12 Dec 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Martin Karikari out for 14 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Albert Wakaso, 33, rolls back the years — 8.48

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.48 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

Match

Hasaacas see off Medeama

Three points for Hasaacas, 2‑1 the final word against Medeama in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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.

Player ratings

Mohammed Annan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Albert Acquah linked with a move away

The name of Albert Acquah keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hasaacas say nothing, which says plenty.

Boardroom

Hasaacas keep producing them

97 graduates from an academy now rated 7 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.

In brief

694 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

14 Nov 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Martin Karikari breaks a bone — 42 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

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

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

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Hasaacas

9 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Squad

Albert Acquah keeps Hasaacas in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Samuel Isife 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.

Match

Heart of Lions take the points off Hasaacas

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

693 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

7 Nov 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Hasaacas has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Martin Karikari breaks a bone — 49 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

The wait goes on for Hasaacas

8 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.

Match

Hasaacas leaking at the back

8 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

Daniel Asante signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Asante commits to Hasaacas for another 2 years.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Hasaacas against Berekum Chelsea

1‑3 to Berekum Chelsea, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Isife 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.

Player ratings

Amadu Baldé gives it away

There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Hasaacas lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.

In brief

692 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

31 Oct 2039
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Martin Karikari breaks a bone — 56 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Hasaacas are in real trouble now

Position 16, 7 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Player ratings

Both of them Daniel Asante's — 8.15

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.15, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

7 matches without a win for Hasaacas

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Sulaiman Yusuf, 33, rolls back the years — 8.11

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.11 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

Hasaacas are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Match

6 goals as Hasaacas and New Edubiase United go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hasaacas and New Edubiase United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Albert Acquah

“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.

In brief

689 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

10 Oct 2039
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Hasaacas has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Martin Karikari breaks a bone — 77 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

The cup run ends for Hasaacas

0‑4 against Berekum Chelsea, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

The terraces

Hasaacas are taken apart by Berekum Chelsea — and the town wants answers

It finished 0-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Albert Wakaso yet — 7.99

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Match

4 matches without a win for Hasaacas

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

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Hasaacas are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Squad

Albert Atiemo stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Albert Atiemo and Hasaacas agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

683 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

29 Aug 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Martin Karikari breaks a bone — 119 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Daniel Appiah damages knee ligaments — 41 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

In brief

677 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

18 Jul 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Hasaacas has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Martin Karikari breaks a bone — 161 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 161 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

In brief

676 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

11 Jul 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jonathan Kyereh 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

Jeffrey Inusah stays put

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

In brief

674 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

27 Jun 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Hasaacas boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Match

Hasaacas sink to position 14

24 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

A fracture rules Emmanuel Charles out for 96 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

In brief

673 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

20 Jun 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Hasaacas has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

A fracture rules Emmanuel Charles out for 103 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Osman Nuhu 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.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
  • Squad David Gyan out for 21 days
670 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

30 May 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Hasaacas

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Match

Hasaacas are in real trouble now

Position 14, 24 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

Jonathan Kyereh 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

668 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

16 May 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

When it matters, Amadu Baldé 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.

In brief

667 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

9 May 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

Squad

Bernard Kyereh out for 37 days

The medical room confirms 37 days on the sidelines for Bernard Kyereh, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

666 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

2 May 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Hasaacas

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hasaacas is running low.

Boardroom

Hasaacas spell it out for David Atiemo

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. David Atiemo has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Match

Hasaacas are in real trouble now

Position 14, 24 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

Osman Nuhu 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Samuel Isife 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

Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

665 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

25 Apr 2039
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Hasaacas has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

664 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

18 Apr 2039
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Patrick Acquah: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hasaacas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

661 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

28 Mar 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Hasaacas has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Albert Acquah breaks a bone — 16 days out

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.

Match

6 matches without a win for Hasaacas

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Hasaacas against Medeama

1‑3 to Medeama, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

660 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

21 Mar 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 23 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

A brace, and Amadu Baldé takes the afternoon — 8.42

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amadu Baldé provided it, and the 8.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

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

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

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Hasaacas come up short against WAFA

WAFA left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Isife 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.

Squad

Francis Appiah out for 20 days

The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Francis Appiah, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Market

Albert Acquah linked with a move away

The name of Albert Acquah keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hasaacas say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

The pass was always on for Albert Wakaso

Chances created: 7. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.

In brief

659 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

14 Mar 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 30 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Kwadwo Afful: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hasaacas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

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

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

Squad

Osman Nuhu 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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.

Match

Hearts of Oak take the points off Hasaacas

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

In brief

656 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

21 Feb 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 51 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nana Boateng

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Match

Hasaacas come up short against Berekum Chelsea

Berekum Chelsea left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Match

Sulaiman Yusuf among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Sulaiman Yusuf on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hasaacas and Berekum Chelsea.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

655 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

14 Feb 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 58 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Both of them Amadu Baldé's — 8.48

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.48, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Albert Wakaso, 33, rolls back the years — 8.23

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Albert Wakaso is carrying Hasaacas

17 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Jonathan Kyereh 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Hasaacas find a way past New Edubiase United

New Edubiase United made Hasaacas work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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.

Market

The Osman Nuhu question follows Hasaacas around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Osman Nuhu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Player ratings

Daniel Asante runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 6. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

653 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

31 Jan 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

Anger at Hasaacas 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.

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 72 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Martin Karikari, 35, rolls back the years — 7.92

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Amadu Baldé 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.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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.

Match

Hasaacas find a way past Bechem United

Bechem United made Hasaacas work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

652 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

24 Jan 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 79 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Hasaacas sink to position 15

17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Albert Wakaso is carrying Hasaacas

16 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Osman Nuhu 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.

Match

Asante Kotoko take the points off Hasaacas

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

650 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

10 Jan 2039
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 93 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Isaac Mensah 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 Hasaacas can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Albert Wakaso is carrying Hasaacas

15 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

Match

Hasaacas find a way past Great Olympics

Great Olympics made Hasaacas work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

647 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

20 Dec 2038
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Albert Acquah out for 114 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

The wait goes on for Hasaacas

8 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.

Player ratings

Albert Wakaso scores twice — 8.72

Two goals and a mark of 8.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

Hasaacas leaking at the back

8 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Match

A bad afternoon for Hasaacas against BA All Stars

4‑6 to BA All Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Jonathan Kyereh 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Albert Wakaso

14 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

10 goals as Hasaacas and BA All Stars go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Hasaacas and BA All Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

646 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

13 Dec 2038
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Kwesi Asmah out for 81 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Hasaacas

A 2‑6 beating by Medeama was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Both of them Albert Wakaso's — 8.91

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.91, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

The wait goes on for Hasaacas

7 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.

Match

Hasaacas leaking at the back

7 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Market

Isaac Mensah puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Amadu Baldé 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hasaacas and Medeama in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief

644 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

29 Nov 2038
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Kwesi Asmah out for 95 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Hasaacas

Position 14 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Match

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

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

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Hasaacas

5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Match

6 goals as Hasaacas and Hearts of Oak go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hasaacas and Hearts of Oak, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Daniel Asante’s goal not enough for Hasaacas

Daniel Asante scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Hearts of Oak, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

Squad

When it matters, Jonathan Kyereh 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.

In brief

643 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

22 Nov 2038
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Kwesi Asmah out for 102 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Albert Acquah keeps Hasaacas in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

The wait goes on for Hasaacas

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.

Squad

Jonathan Kyereh 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Sulaiman Yusuf’s goal not enough for Hasaacas

Sulaiman Yusuf scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Ashanti Gold, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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.

Match

Hasaacas leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Market

The Osman Nuhu question follows Hasaacas around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Osman Nuhu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Player ratings

Albert Wakaso runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 7. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

641 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

8 Nov 2038
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Kwesi Asmah out for 116 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The terraces

Anger at Hasaacas 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.

Squad

Albert Acquah stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Albert Acquah and Hasaacas agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Jonathan Kyereh 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Hasaacas against Berekum Chelsea

2‑3 to Berekum Chelsea, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Daniel Asante 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

640 Edition

The Hasaacas Gazette

1 Nov 2038
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Kwesi Asmah out for 123 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hasaacas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

A brace, and Martin Karikari takes the afternoon — 8.14

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Karikari provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Tempers go at Hasaacas

Jonathan Kyereh 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.

Match

Martin Karikari among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Martin Karikari on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hasaacas and New Edubiase United.

Match

A bad afternoon for Hasaacas against New Edubiase United

2‑4 to New Edubiase United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Asante 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.

In brief