Marked for Patrick Afful
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hasaacas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2032
The paperwork begins on Enock Otoo
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hasaacas have done the hard part with Hearts of Oak, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad30 Aug 2032
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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2032
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 targets30 Aug 2032
A loan move for Andrew Imade is in the works
Hasaacas have made the call to Hearts of Oak. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout30 Aug 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2032
Beaten 0‑6 by Hearts of Oak, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market12 Apr 2032
Isaac Adjei has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hasaacas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2032
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.
Match10 Apr 2032
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hasaacas and Hearts of Oak, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Beaten 6 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
The manager makes an example of Albert Djiku
“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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2032
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout12 Apr 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 0‑6 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout12 Apr 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 Mohammed Sadat Abubakari is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Feb 2032
Nowhere to hide for Hasaacas
0‑4 against Asante Kotoko, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market16 Feb 2032
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.
Squad16 Feb 2032
A falling-out at Hasaacas
Mohammed Sadat Abubakari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market16 Feb 2032
One of our own: Kwame Nuhu joins the Hasaacas first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kwame Nuhu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market16 Feb 2032
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Joseph Acquah has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market16 Feb 2032
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrick Afful 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.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdul Boateng, and the manager let it.
Boardroom16 Feb 2032
Nobody left the Hasaacas 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 dugout16 Feb 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 0‑4 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.