Marked for Alex Eguavoen
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Jan 2031
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against Barau, and it could have been more.
Market13 Jan 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kwara United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings13 Jan 2031
No sign of nerves from Anthony Akpan at 17 — 9.90
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Anthony Akpan did not need any: 9.90, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad13 Jan 2031
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout13 Jan 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market13 Jan 2031
Alex Eguavoen hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout13 Jan 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Remo Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 Jan 2031
The offer from Barau for Alex Eguavoen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 Dec 2030
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Ahmed Akinyele 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.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 dugout23 Dec 2030
Samuel Anakwe gets picked when it counts
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 Samuel Anakwe is on it.
Market23 Dec 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Samuel Anakwe’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
Oladeji Joshua 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 Remo Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout25 Nov 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market25 Nov 2030
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Ahmed Akinyele 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.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Antonio Galeano 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 dugout25 Nov 2030
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.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
Stanley Joseph 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.
Market25 Nov 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Bright Iwobi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Remo Stars.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Aribo
“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.
Market25 Nov 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Samuel Anakwe’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Oct 2030
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Samuel Anakwe 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.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Antonio Galeano 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 dugout28 Oct 2030
The manager makes an example of Hosea Michael
“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 dugout28 Oct 2030
Samuel Anakwe gets picked when it counts
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 Samuel Anakwe is on it.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Hosea Michael has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Remo Stars will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market28 Oct 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Taiwo Onyekuru has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Remo Stars.
Market28 Oct 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Samuel Anakwe’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oyinlola Kayode trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Sep 2030
“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.
Market30 Sep 2030
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Antonio Galeano 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.
Market30 Sep 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Oladeji Joshua has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Remo Stars.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
“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.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
Samuel Anakwe gets picked when it counts
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 Samuel Anakwe is on it.
Market30 Sep 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Anakwe signs something — a contract at Remo Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“I want to play”: Bright Iwobi speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad26 Aug 2030
33 goals and a season average of 7.64. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match24 Aug 2030
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match24 Aug 2030
Nobody wants to play Remo Stars right now
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad26 Aug 2030
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market26 Aug 2030
“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.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
No sign of nerves from Moses Nwakali at 18 — 7.85
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Moses Nwakali did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Oladeji Joshua arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Oladeji Joshua has, at Remo Stars, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout26 Aug 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout26 Aug 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Remo Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Jul 2030
Chidozie Ndidi damages knee ligaments — 67 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
25 goals and a season average of 7.54. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market22 Jul 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Remo Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market22 Jul 2030
Shuaibu Umar hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings22 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market22 Jul 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Samuel Anakwe 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Moses Nwakali commits to Remo Stars for another 3 years.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Jul 2030
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Remo Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match13 Jul 2030
Remo Stars keep winning on the road
10 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Match10 Jul 2030
Niger Tornadoes go through and Remo Stars go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Samuel Anakwe is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.52 with 24 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match15 Jul 2030
67 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market15 Jul 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Remo Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market15 Jul 2030
Moses Nwakali hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings15 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market15 Jul 2030
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Hosea Michael was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Jul 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Chidozie Ndidi
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Remo Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 Jun 2030
Remo Stars keep winning on the road
9 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Samuel Anakwe
22 goals and a season average of 7.49 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market1 Jul 2030
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 Jul 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout1 Jul 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Samuel Anakwe 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.
Transfer targets1 Jul 2030
Remo Stars asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jun 2030
Chidozie Ndidi damages knee ligaments — 102 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
Match17 Jun 2030
58 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market17 Jun 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Remo Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match15 Jun 2030
Remo Stars keep winning on the road
8 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
The dugout17 Jun 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Remo Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 Jun 2030
19 goals and a season average of 7.43. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market17 Jun 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Jun 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chinedu Eze and Remo Stars agree another 4 years.
Squad17 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jun 2030
Chidozie Ndidi damages knee ligaments — 109 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
Market10 Jun 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Remo Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad10 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Jun 2030
Remo Stars asked and Sparta Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout10 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Junaid Seedat, and the manager let it.
Market10 Jun 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Remo Stars, another week without a signature from Junaid Seedat.
Player ratings10 Jun 2030
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets10 Jun 2030
A loan enquiry to Apollon: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Player ratings10 Jun 2030
A mark of 7.47, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match18 May 2030
Remo Stars make home a hard place to visit
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match18 May 2030
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Enyimba, and it could have been more.
Match20 May 2030
The view from the top for Remo Stars
51 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad20 May 2030
15 goals and a season average of 7.61. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match18 May 2030
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Remo Stars have 4 straight wins of it.
Market20 May 2030
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 May 2030
A row about effort at Remo Stars
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Galeano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom20 May 2030
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match20 Apr 2030
Remo Stars make home a hard place to visit
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match22 Apr 2030
39 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Match20 Apr 2030
Nobody wants to play Remo Stars right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market22 Apr 2030
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Ahmed Akinyele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Match20 Apr 2030
Three points for Remo Stars, 2‑0 the final word against Kano Pillars in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Antonio Galeano was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Mar 2030
3‑0, and Samson Olasupo took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Remo Stars tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Match25 Mar 2030
Remo Stars refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match23 Mar 2030
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Remo Stars did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Ndidi Osayi-Samuel, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.97
A mark of 7.97 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market25 Mar 2030
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Ahmed Akinyele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 ratings25 Mar 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Feb 2030
Alex Eguavoen has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match23 Feb 2030
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Remo Stars did not have in the autumn.
Squad25 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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 ratings25 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kenneth Sadiq commits to Remo Stars for another 3 years.
Match23 Feb 2030
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Too much change too quickly at Remo Stars
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Feb 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ashanti Gold waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout11 Feb 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad11 Feb 2030
A move Bassey Bassey 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. Bassey Bassey is living that version at Remo Stars, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market11 Feb 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market11 Feb 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ikenna Benjamin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Samuel Anakwe 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 Feb 2030
A row about effort at Remo Stars
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Galeano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Osayi Obi commits to Remo Stars for another 3 years.
Transfer targets11 Feb 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. MSK Zilina have kept their man, and Remo Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Jan 2030
Remo Stars throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Rivers United the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Remo Stars will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
A brace, and Samuel Anakwe takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Anakwe provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market28 Jan 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Remo Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market28 Jan 2030
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market28 Jan 2030
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Remo Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Galeano 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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Shuaibu Umar gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Shuaibu Umar has just signed for Remo Stars, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 45. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout7 Jan 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Remo Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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 Remo Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Jan 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Warri Wolves waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad7 Jan 2030
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Remo Stars had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market7 Jan 2030
The bid was some way short and Remo Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Sanele Mhlangu has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Samuel Anakwe 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout31 Dec 2029
Stephen Okereke: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Remo Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 Dec 2029
Only the photograph left for Alex Eguavoen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Eguavoen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Samuel Anakwe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Dec 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout31 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanley Joseph, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taiwo Adebayor 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Dec 2029
Remo Stars are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 77 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad17 Dec 2029
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Remo Stars had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market17 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout17 Dec 2029
Alex Eguavoen: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Remo Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 Dec 2029
Emmanuel Olisa has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Stanley Joseph 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
A row about effort at Remo Stars
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Akinyele was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
Biola Sabitu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Remo Stars 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout3 Dec 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market3 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo Stars is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Samuel Anakwe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at Remo Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Akinyele 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 dugout3 Dec 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout3 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Madu, and the manager let it.