Marked for Abdullahi Adeleye
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Feb 2035
Successful dribbles: 45. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Feb 2035
A fracture rules Sama'ila Bello out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El-Kanemi Warriors will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Risilanu Ismail 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.
Squad19 Feb 2035
The medical room confirms 43 days on the sidelines for Somtochukwu Nwobodo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Words at El-Kanemi Warriors training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Mukhtar 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 ratings19 Feb 2035
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.08 on the card, and the El-Kanemi Warriors support went home talking about one name.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Feb 2035
A fracture rules Sama'ila Bello out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason El-Kanemi Warriors will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings5 Feb 2035
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Feb 2035
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad5 Feb 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bilal Yakubu and El-Kanemi Warriors agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Risilanu Ismail 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.
Player ratings5 Feb 2035
A performance of 9.81 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match3 Feb 2035
A 3‑1 win over Kwara United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Feb 2035
Hamed Abdulhameed was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Market5 Feb 2035
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdullahi Adeleye has his answer from El-Kanemi Warriors; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Sep 2034
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. El-Kanemi Warriors scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings11 Sep 2034
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Risilanu Ismail 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.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Kelvin Osas pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Words at El-Kanemi Warriors training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Mukhtar 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 ratings11 Sep 2034
Risilanu Ismail was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad11 Sep 2034
When it matters, Isaiah Ejeh 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.
Player ratings11 Sep 2034
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. El-Kanemi Warriors were going nowhere until he came on.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings6 Feb 2034
Two goals and a mark of 7.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad6 Feb 2034
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Risilanu Ismail and El-Kanemi Warriors agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Feb 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El-Kanemi Warriors this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Feb 2034
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match4 Feb 2034
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Friday Ubong. 2‑0 against Kwara United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad6 Feb 2034
Words at El-Kanemi Warriors training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Mukhtar 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.
Market6 Feb 2034
Usman Abbas is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at El-Kanemi Warriors has been clear about where Usman Abbas stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad6 Feb 2034
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market6 Feb 2034
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ola Onyeka leaves El-Kanemi Warriors the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Sep 2033
Risilanu Ismail wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Risilanu Ismail found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Shooting Stars went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Match3 Sep 2033
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad5 Sep 2033
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Friday Ubong commits to El-Kanemi Warriors for another 2 years.
Squad5 Sep 2033
Risilanu Ismail 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.
Player ratings5 Sep 2033
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom5 Sep 2033
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Player ratings5 Sep 2033
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.84 on the card, and the El-Kanemi Warriors support went home talking about one name.
Squad5 Sep 2033
One booking too many, and Isaiah Ejeh sits out. El-Kanemi Warriors lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.