Marked for Andre Mohammed
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jul 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Great Olympics waiting with a shirt. Nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
The offer went to BA All Stars this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Tempers go at WAFA
Thomas Atiemo 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.
Squad28 Jul 2031
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nana Amoah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Jul 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edmund Bukari and WAFA agree another 3 years.
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
WAFA 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.
Market28 Jul 2031
The Samuel Owusu story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Owusu signs something — a contract at WAFA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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The dugout
Andre Mohammed knocks on the manager's door
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Boardroom
The WAFA production line keeps running
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Market
David Gyan placed on the list
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
$11.0K settles it between the clubs for Emmanuel Anning
Bechem United have accepted the money. What WAFA do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market21 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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at WAFA
Thomas Atiemo 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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Nana Amoah 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.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liberty Professionals have kept their man, and WAFA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jul 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andre Mohammed and WAFA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Jun 2031
Amos Ofori 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 WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nana Amoah 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Abdul Yakubu 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
The manager makes an example of Samuel 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.
Market30 Jun 2031
The name of Samuel Owusu keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WAFA say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
Amos Ofori 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 WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Boardroom30 Jun 2031
The WAFA academy earns its keep
53 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Market30 Jun 2031
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at WAFA misheard it.
Squad30 Jun 2031
The training reports on Edmund Bukari are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Jun 2031
WAFA refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 51 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.
Market9 Jun 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A falling-out at WAFA
Thomas Atiemo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nana Amoah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and WAFA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Jun 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Baba Adjei and WAFA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Jun 2031
“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.
Squad2 Jun 2031
A falling-out at WAFA
Nana Amoah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis Paintsil 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.
Market2 Jun 2031
The name of Samuel Owusu keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WAFA say nothing, which says plenty.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
WAFA can sign again
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.
Market2 Jun 2031
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at WAFA, another week without a signature from Amos Baba.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
WAFA keep producing them
49 graduates from an academy now rated 9 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
Squad2 Jun 2031
The coaching staff have set Felix Partey something separate to do. Whether it is a weakness being addressed or a strength being sharpened, nobody outside the building will know until it shows up on a Saturday.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Abraham Ayew is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Apr 2031
WAFA refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 47 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.
Market14 Apr 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words exchanged at WAFA
Nana Amoah 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.
Match12 Apr 2031
0‑1 to Heart of Lions, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nana Schlupp after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Abraham Partey is the weekend's best young player
At 17 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abraham Partey, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
No place in the plan for Daniel Addo
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Feb 2031
WAFA refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 37 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.
Market17 Feb 2031
Bernard Acquah has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WAFA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A falling-out at WAFA
Thomas Atiemo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Nana Amoah 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.
Match15 Feb 2031
It finished 2‑0, and it was Bernard Acquah’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to WAFA.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Ninety minutes of Bernard Acquah at his very best
Marked 8.43. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at WAFA.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Feb 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joseph Schlupp and WAFA agree another 3 years.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.