Marked for Bernard Asante
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Nov 2028
84 days out for Sebastian Osigwe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Inter Allies will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad27 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Bernard Asante
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Inter Allies lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match25 Nov 2028
No end in sight to Inter Allies's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Inter Allies has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Sebastian Osigwe 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Annan Mensah 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Inter Allies 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.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“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.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Harrison Boateng after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Sebastian Osigwe out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Inter Allies will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad20 Nov 2028
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Inter Allies lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Maxwell Azafokpe has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Inter Allies is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Allies this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Annan Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Nobody at Inter Allies 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 dugout20 Nov 2028
Godbless Ayeke 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 Inter Allies, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Nov 2028
The shop window has Annan Mensah in it
Inter Allies have let the market know Annan Mensah can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market20 Nov 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Maxwell Azafokpe signs something — a contract at Inter Allies or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Looking ahead: the trip to WAFA
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Meshack Vondolie
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Boardroom
The Inter Allies production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Nov 2028
98 days out for Sebastian Osigwe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Inter Allies will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Bernard Asante damages knee ligaments — 45 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
0‑4 against Hearts of Oak, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match13 Nov 2028
Position 16, 2 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
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.
Match11 Nov 2028
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.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Idris Ajiya has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Inter Allies is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Idris Ajiya 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 dugout13 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Idris Ajiya has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Inter Allies is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
$44.0K on the table at Ashanti Gold. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad24 Jul 2028
At 21, Idris Ajiya is already the best thing here
An average of 7.05 in a first team he is several years too young for. Inter Allies have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Adewale Sapara 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 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Musa Yahaya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
Annan Mensah asks for a word with the manager
“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.