Marked for Jonathan Sulemana
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Aug 2029
Jonathan Sulemana damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Albert Annan has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
The Hasaacas board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market6 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Hasaacas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
Everything agreed with Ashanti Gold, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Abubakar Isyaku has agreed terms with Aduana Stars for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
This is not rotation. Abubakar Isyaku has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Hasaacas is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nana Atiemo and Hasaacas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Hasaacas
Israel Odedele 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Jul 2029
Jonathan Sulemana damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Market30 Jul 2029
“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 Jul 2029
Abdul Acquah 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.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Hasaacas asked and Liberty Professionals said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad30 Jul 2029
A row about effort at Hasaacas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammed Sadat Abubakari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Hasaacas
Francis Ayew 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 Jul 2029
A loan enquiry to Ashanti Gold: 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 Jul 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Edmund Sulemana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market30 Jul 2029
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Hasaacas money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Jul 2029
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hasaacas lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match23 Jul 2029
Hasaacas sink to position 15
27 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market23 Jul 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abubakar Isyaku will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hasaacas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Jul 2029
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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Hasaacas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Sadat Abubakari 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 Jul 2029
A loan enquiry to Ashanti Gold: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market23 Jul 2029
The a squad player question follows Hasaacas around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with a squad player’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
In brief
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The dugout
Albert Nuhu asks for a word with the manager
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Boardroom
The Hasaacas academy earns its keep
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Squad
The training reports on Amos Djiku are not good