Marked for Daniel Afful
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
Arnold Siaw 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eric Oteng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Solomon Agbesi, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Arnold Siaw 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 Arnold Siaw trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Hearts of Oak.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Gladson Awako has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Great Olympics 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.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Solomon Agbesi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Great Olympics needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market11 Oct 2027
The shop window has Eric Oteng in it
Great Olympics have let the market know Eric Oteng can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 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 Great Olympics can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Eric Oteng 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 Great Olympics this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Great Olympics asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richmond Lamptey 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
No place for Arnold Siaw in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Great Olympics are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Francis Okoli 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 Francis Okoli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
A move Francis Okoli 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. Francis Okoli is living that version at Great Olympics, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Eric Oteng 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Great Olympics training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richmond Lamptey 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Afful is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thomas Baba is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Albert Boakye has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.