Marked for Ernest Paintsil
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 May 2029
Albert Annan has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hasaacas can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 May 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout7 May 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.
Squad7 May 2029
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.
Squad7 May 2029
David Acquah 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.
The dugout7 May 2029
Abeiku Mohammed without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Abeiku Mohammed was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout7 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Francis Ayew
“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 dugout7 May 2029
Abubakar Isyaku 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.
Market7 May 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hasaacas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Oct 2028
11 matches without a win for Hasaacas
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.
Match21 Oct 2028
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Hasaacas
Mohammed Sadat Abubakari 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
Hasaacas rescue it on 91 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Asante Kotoko had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ernest Paintsil and Hasaacas agree another 3 years.
Match21 Oct 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Market23 Oct 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout23 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Oct 2028
10 matches without a win for Hasaacas
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Hasaacas are no longer polite ones.
Match4 Oct 2028
Ashanti Gold ended it 0‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces9 Oct 2028
A cup hiding at Ashanti Gold leaves Hasaacas explaining themselves
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Market9 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hasaacas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Oct 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 Hasaacas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Oct 2028
3 matches without a goal for Hasaacas
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market9 Oct 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Francis Mohammed is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market9 Oct 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ernest Paintsil is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market9 Oct 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Emmanuel Amoah 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.