Marked for Simon Eguavoen
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Oct 2033
“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.
Market31 Oct 2033
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rangers International is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Oct 2033
Hilary Gong 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 Rangers International this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Oct 2033
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simon Eguavoen and Rangers International agree another 3 years.
Squad31 Oct 2033
Words at Rangers International training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oscar Adeleye 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 dugout31 Oct 2033
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 Godwin Asiriuwa is on it.
The dugout31 Oct 2033
“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.
Market31 Oct 2033
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rangers International know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout31 Oct 2033
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rangers International, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Sep 2033
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rangers International they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Sep 2033
Ganiyu Gberefu 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.
Squad26 Sep 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hilary Gong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Sep 2033
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Sep 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Victor Omeruo, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Sep 2033
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Abraham Onyekuru left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Sep 2033
Something was said to Etebo Adeleye and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout26 Sep 2033
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Nov 2032
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2032
Hilary Gong 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 dugout29 Nov 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uzoigwe Odinaka, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Nov 2032
Godwin Asiriuwa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rangers International 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.
Market29 Nov 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rangers International know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Nov 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rangers International, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2032
Ganiyu Gberefu 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.
Squad8 Nov 2032
Words at Rangers International training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hilary Gong 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.
Squad8 Nov 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Simon Eguavoen and Rangers International agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
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 Ifeanyi Assurance is on it.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
Domnan Panse knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Domnan Panse trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 Nov 2032
The Hilary Gong story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hilary Gong signs something — a contract at Rangers International or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market8 Nov 2032
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Rangers International could get for him.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Uzoigwe Odinaka has written the date down.
Market8 Nov 2032
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ebere Nwankwo leaves Rangers International the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.