Marked for Umar Osimhen
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Mar 2033
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kenneth Sheddy
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bayelsa United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Shodeinde Moses 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.
Match5 Mar 2033
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Bayelsa United can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad7 Mar 2033
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout7 Mar 2033
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings7 Mar 2033
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Mar 2033
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Kwara United came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout7 Mar 2033
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Feb 2033
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kenneth Sheddy
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bayelsa United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match26 Feb 2033
0‑4 to Kano Pillars, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad28 Feb 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2033
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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 dugout28 Feb 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Umar Osimhen, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Feb 2033
Nobody left the Bayelsa United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout28 Feb 2033
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad28 Feb 2033
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bright Awoniyi and Bayelsa United agree another 3 years.
Player ratings28 Feb 2033
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Feb 2033
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kenneth Sheddy
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bayelsa United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Feb 2033
0‑3 against Shooting Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad21 Feb 2033
Shodeinde Moses and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wikki Tourists have kept their man, and Bayelsa United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings21 Feb 2033
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Feb 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shodeinde Moses, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Feb 2033
Nobody left the Bayelsa United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Feb 2033
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Feb 2033
Umar Osimhen 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Feb 2033
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bayelsa United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings14 Feb 2033
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.15, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Feb 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Feb 2033
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.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2033
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Plateau United have kept their man, and Bayelsa United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Feb 2033
A 2‑0 win over Ikorodu City, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout14 Feb 2033
“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 dugout14 Feb 2033
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
Player ratings14 Feb 2033
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets17 Jan 2033
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bayelsa United have done the hard part with Niger Tornadoes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Jan 2033
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Squad17 Jan 2033
Words at Bayelsa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses 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.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2033
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.
Match15 Jan 2033
1‑2 to El-Kanemi Warriors, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Jan 2033
Umar Osimhen gets it from the manager
“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 dugout17 Jan 2033
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2033
A loan enquiry to Shooting Stars: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2033
A loan move for Olisa Nwakali is in the works
Bayelsa United have made the call to Enyimba. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Jan 2033
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Plateau United, and it could have been more.
Player ratings10 Jan 2033
A brace, and Nupe Godstime takes the afternoon — 8.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nupe Godstime provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market10 Jan 2033
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bayelsa United can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout10 Jan 2033
Ademola Abacha: 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.” Bayelsa United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 Jan 2033
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Umar Osimhen commits to Bayelsa United for another 3 years.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Shodeinde Moses 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.
Boardroom10 Jan 2033
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2033
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.
Match8 Jan 2033
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Plateau United. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Jan 2033
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Odion Eguavoen clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Boardroom3 Jan 2033
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
The dugout3 Jan 2033
Umar Osimhen: 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.” Bayelsa United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom3 Jan 2033
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Market3 Jan 2033
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bayelsa United can pretend not to have heard.
Match1 Jan 2033
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad3 Jan 2033
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Umar Osimhen and Bayelsa United agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Jan 2033
Shodeinde Moses 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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2033
7 academy graduates step up at Bayelsa United
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Nov 2032
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Don-Pedro Samuel 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout22 Nov 2032
The manager makes an example of Umar Osimhen
“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.
Market22 Nov 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bayelsa United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The terraces22 Nov 2032
Supporters make their feelings known about Don-Pedro Samuel
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Bayelsa United would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2032
Don-Pedro Samuel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2032
Shodeinde Moses 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 dugout15 Nov 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad15 Nov 2032
5 new faces, and Bayelsa United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout15 Nov 2032
Umar Osimhen 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 Bayelsa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout15 Nov 2032
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2032
Kenneth Sheddy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shodeinde Moses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Market8 Nov 2032
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
Kenneth Ademola has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Bayelsa United 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.
Market8 Nov 2032
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Bayelsa United money.
Market8 Nov 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bayelsa United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout8 Nov 2032
“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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2032
75 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Peter Iheanacho
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bayelsa United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout11 Oct 2032
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2032
Shodeinde Moses 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 dugout11 Oct 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad11 Oct 2032
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market11 Oct 2032
“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.
The dugout11 Oct 2032
“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 dugout11 Oct 2032
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 Kenneth Ademola is on it.
Market11 Oct 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bayelsa United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Oct 2032
38 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad4 Oct 2032
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.
Match2 Oct 2032
No end in sight to Bayelsa United's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bayelsa United has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Oct 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayelsa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Oct 2032
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Market4 Oct 2032
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bayelsa United, another week without a signature from Don-Pedro Samuel.
Player ratings4 Oct 2032
A mark of 7.95, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout4 Oct 2032
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Odion Eguavoen left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Sep 2032
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Don-Pedro Samuel 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.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shodeinde Moses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Player ratings27 Sep 2032
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad27 Sep 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chukwuma Bassey and Bayelsa United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Odion Eguavoen was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Bayelsa United dressing room was either.
Player ratings27 Sep 2032
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
Umar Osimhen 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bayelsa United can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Bayelsa United close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 19 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market6 Sep 2032
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Kenneth Sheddy 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.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Shodeinde Moses 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 dugout6 Sep 2032
The new man at Bayelsa United has worked with Christian Dawariomi before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout6 Sep 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Don-Pedro Samuel, and the manager let it.
Market6 Sep 2032
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Aug 2031
The offer from WAFA for Umar Osimhen 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.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2031
The paperwork begins on Samuel Gyan
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BA All Stars have done the hard part with WAFA, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
This is not rotation. Umar Osimhen has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at BA All Stars is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Abou 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.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Baba Addo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
Thomas Partey has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at BA All 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
Uneasy
Market18 Aug 2031
Umar Osimhen 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 BA All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BA All Stars have done the hard part with Asante Kotoko, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Baba Addo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market18 Aug 2031
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Asamoah is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market18 Aug 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Edmund Asamoah 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.
Market18 Aug 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Emmanuel Djiku 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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
A loan move for Samuel Gyan is in the works
BA All Stars have made the call to WAFA. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
When it matters, Ayoub Abou 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Aug 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Great Olympics waiting with a shirt. Nobody at BA All Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BA All Stars have done the hard part with Bechem United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
$300.00 was the most the club would pay and Bechem United were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayoub Abou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Simon Omondi 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.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Asante Kotoko have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
A loan move for Djawal Kaiba is in the works
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
The manager makes an example of Patrick Partey
“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 dugout11 Aug 2031
Isaac Sulemana is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Aug 2031
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayoub Abou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Baba Addo 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.
Transfer targets4 Aug 2031
Asante Kotoko have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets4 Aug 2031
A loan move for Samuel Gyan is in the works
BA All Stars have made the call to WAFA. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout4 Aug 2031
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market4 Aug 2031
The name of a squad player keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BA All Stars say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout4 Aug 2031
Umar Osimhen 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 BA All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout4 Aug 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jul 2031
Abraham Annan damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Market28 Jul 2031
The offer from Great Olympics for Umar Osimhen 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.
Market28 Jul 2031
“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.
The dugout28 Jul 2031
This is not rotation. Umar Osimhen has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at BA All Stars is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
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.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Baba Addo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
A loan enquiry to Asante Kotoko: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
Liberty Professionals have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jul 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abraham Annan
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BA All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market21 Jul 2031
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BA All Stars have done the hard part with Asante Kotoko, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Abou 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.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
BA All Stars asked and Asante Kotoko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Baba Addo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jul 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrew Partey and BA All Stars agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
New Edubiase United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout21 Jul 2031
When it matters, Ayoub Abou 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jul 2031
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. BA All Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market14 Jul 2031
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around BA All Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Abou 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Baba Addo 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 targets14 Jul 2031
A loan enquiry to Asante Kotoko: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Asante Kotoko have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Isaac Sulemana's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edmund Schlupp, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Jul 2031
The paperwork begins on Haqi Osman
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BA All Stars have done the hard part with Asante Kotoko, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Baba Addo 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 targets7 Jul 2031
Bechem United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Boardroom7 Jul 2031
5 new boys at the BA All Stars academy
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
The dugout7 Jul 2031
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market7 Jul 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until a squad player signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout7 Jul 2031
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 dugout7 Jul 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed Bukari trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad7 Jul 2031
Questions about Umar Osimhen on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Jun 2031
The bid was some way short and BA All Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Everything agreed with New Edubiase United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
This is not rotation. Umar Osimhen has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at BA All Stars is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Ayoub Abou 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Baba Addo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Jun 2031
29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
A loan enquiry to Asante Kotoko: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
Thomas Partey has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at BA All 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.
Boardroom30 Jun 2031
37 graduates from an academy now rated 7 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Jun 2031
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words at BA All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Abou 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.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and BA All Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Simon Omondi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
A loan move for Djawal Kaiba is in the works
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout23 Jun 2031
When it matters, Ayoub Abou 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.
The dugout23 Jun 2031
“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 dugout23 Jun 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Kwadwo Bukari's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market23 Jun 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
BA All Stars asked and Medeama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Baba Addo 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.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
A loan move for Djawal Kaiba is in the works
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout16 Jun 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Isaac Sulemana's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout16 Jun 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Osman Wakaso, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Jun 2031
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 Mohammed Essien is on it.
The dugout16 Jun 2031
Umar Osimhen 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 Umar Osimhen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Jun 2031
The Baba Addo talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. BA All Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad16 Jun 2031
“I want to play”: Osman Wakaso 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
Uneasy
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
BA All Stars had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Medeama, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad9 Jun 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Osman Boakye and BA All Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Ayoub Abou 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Baba Addo 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 targets9 Jun 2031
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
“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 dugout9 Jun 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Jeffrey Ofori's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market9 Jun 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until a squad player signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
Umar Osimhen 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 BA All Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout2 Jun 2031
This is not rotation. Umar Osimhen has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at BA All Stars is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Jun 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Osman Boakye and BA All Stars agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Ayoub Abou 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 Jun 2031
Baba Addo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2031
A loan move for Haqi Osman is in the works
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2031
A loan enquiry to Medeama: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2031
BA All Stars have made the call to Asante Kotoko. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout2 Jun 2031
Thomas Partey 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 Thomas Partey is on it.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 May 2031
“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 BA All Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 May 2031
Baba Addo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 May 2031
Ayoub Abou has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at BA All 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.
The dugout26 May 2031
Kwadwo Bukari is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout26 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edmund Schlupp, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 May 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed Bukari trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 May 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayoub Abou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 May 2031
Baba Addo 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.
The dugout12 May 2031
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market12 May 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until a squad player signs something — a contract at BA All Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 May 2031
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 dugout12 May 2031
Mohammed Essien 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout5 May 2031
This is not rotation. Umar Osimhen has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at BA All Stars is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 May 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” a squad player and BA All Stars agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 May 2031
Simon Omondi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 May 2031
A place in the month's best eleven for Mohammed Essien
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mohammed Essien has come out of that comparison in the side, and BA All Stars have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 May 2031
Thomas Partey 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 Thomas Partey is on it.
The dugout5 May 2031
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. BA All Stars told Mohammed Essien something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout5 May 2031
“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.
Market5 May 2031
The shop window has Umar Osimhen in it
BA All Stars have let the market know Umar Osimhen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Boardroom5 May 2031
The BA All Stars academy earns its keep
37 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Apr 2031
Full time on the season at BA All Stars
Position 10 on 32 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad28 Apr 2031
A one-man rearguard from Umar Osimhen
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market28 Apr 2031
Umar Osimhen 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 BA All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BA All Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayoub Abou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Baba Addo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BA All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Apr 2031
0‑2 to Heart of Lions, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings28 Apr 2031
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.