Marked for Isaac Eze
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Dec 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.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Enyimba
Kelvin Akinmola and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Christian Chibuzor 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 dugout23 Dec 2030
Kelvin Ogunga has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Enyimba 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.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nnamdi Anthony, and the manager let it.
Market23 Dec 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Christopher Richards signs something — a contract at Enyimba or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Dec 2030
Isaac Eze 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 The request is on a desk at Enyimba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Dec 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Enyimba is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Words exchanged at Enyimba
Kelvin Akinmola 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.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Words at Enyimba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Chibuzor 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 dugout16 Dec 2030
Nobody at Enyimba 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.
The dugout16 Dec 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.
Market16 Dec 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sama'ila Bello’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market16 Dec 2030
Onyia Henry runs his contract down
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Enyimba money.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
Nnamdi Anthony 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 Nnamdi Anthony trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Enyimba production line keeps running
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Squad
The training reports on Sydney Bright are not good
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The dugout
Dele Israel keeps his manager's vote
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Dec 2030
Only the photograph left for Onyia Henry
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Onyia Henry will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Enyimba the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Dec 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 Enyimba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kelechi Akpan and Enyimba agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market2 Dec 2030
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Nelson Sule 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Isaac Enoghama slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Isaac Enoghama is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
Jonathan Jacob has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Enyimba 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.
Market2 Dec 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Joel Ezra’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
Kelechi Akpan 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 Enyimba, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout11 Nov 2030
Daniel Awuni: 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.” Enyimba have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Nov 2030
Isaac Eze 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 Enyimba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Enyimba is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Kelvin Akinmola 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 Nov 2030
A row about effort at Enyimba
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Chibuzor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
Sama'ila Bello has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Enyimba 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.
Market11 Nov 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Enyimba, another week without a signature from Jonathan Jacob.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nnamdi Anthony, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
Jonathan Jacob 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 Jonathan Jacob 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
Moloko Nape has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Enyimba they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at Enyimba
Kelvin Akinmola 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.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Jacob
“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.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Too much change too quickly at Enyimba
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.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Marked 7.20 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Enyimba had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout30 Sep 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 dugout30 Sep 2030
Musa Omeruo: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.