The Niger Tornadoes Sentinel
Match13 Sep 2027
Niger Tornadoes are in real trouble now
Position 19, 31 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Sunday Akinmoladun 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 The request is on a desk at Niger Tornadoes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Sadiq Auwal at 21 — 7.62
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sadiq Auwal did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
18 clean sheets on loan for Daniel Godwin
25 appearances at Gor Mahia and the goals have stopped going in. Niger Tornadoes lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Niger Tornadoes
Olawale Emmanuel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The step up is real for Aliyu Hussaini
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Niger Tornadoes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ebuka Anthony was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
One of their own: Sadiq Auwal
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Market13 Sep 2027
One of our own: Isaac Eguavoen joins the Niger Tornadoes first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Isaac Eguavoen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
- Market Niger Tornadoes promote Kenneth Akpan from within
- Market Niger Tornadoes promote Terem Collins from within
- Match Niger Tornadoes see off Kun Khalifat