Marked for Bright Eze
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2033
Barau sink to position 20
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match6 Aug 2033
Chastening afternoon for Barau
A 1‑4 beating by Katsina United was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Boardroom8 Aug 2033
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad8 Aug 2033
A one-man rearguard from Serge Obassa
There were 7 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.
Market8 Aug 2033
“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 The request is on a desk at Barau, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout8 Aug 2033
“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.
Transfer targets8 Aug 2033
Barau have gone to Nasarawa United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad8 Aug 2033
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jimmy Ambrose commits to Barau for another 2 years.
Squad8 Aug 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 Barau this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Jun 2033
No end in sight to Barau's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barau has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces20 Jun 2033
Supporters organise against the Barau board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad20 Jun 2033
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets20 Jun 2033
The clubs have shaken hands with Remo Stars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market20 Jun 2033
“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.
Squad20 Jun 2033
Tempers go at Barau
Jimmy Ambrose 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 targets20 Jun 2033
Barau asked and Bendel Insurance said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match18 Jun 2033
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout20 Jun 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 0‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 May 2033
No end in sight to Barau's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barau has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces23 May 2033
Supporters organise against the Barau board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match21 May 2033
Barau cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market23 May 2033
“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 Barau, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match21 May 2033
No clean sheets in sight for Barau
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match21 May 2033
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 May 2033
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout23 May 2033
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings23 May 2033
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Apr 2033
Supporters organise against the Barau board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match23 Apr 2033
12 matches without a win for Barau
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Barau are no longer polite ones.
Match20 Apr 2033
Barau out of the cup
Remo Stars ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market25 Apr 2033
Bright Eze 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 Barau can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Apr 2033
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Barau is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Match23 Apr 2033
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Apr 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francois Habineza, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Apr 2033
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings25 Apr 2033
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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Player ratings
An afternoon Michael Obafemi will want back
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Squad
A Barau teenager takes the young player award
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Jimmy Ambrose
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Mar 2033
The mood at Barau has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market28 Mar 2033
“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.
Squad28 Mar 2033
A falling-out at Barau
Chukwuma Nwakali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Mar 2033
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joseph Eze and Barau agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout28 Mar 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to John Olagunju, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Mar 2033
The manager has not finished forgetting Joshua Awaziem'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.
Market28 Mar 2033
The name of Loiange Ondoa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Barau say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout28 Mar 2033
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Osayi Osayi-Samuel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad28 Mar 2033
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Barau will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2032
Nowhere to hide for Barau
0‑3 against Kun Khalifat, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Dennis Ejuke: 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.” Barau have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A falling-out at Barau
Thabiso Msele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom15 Mar 2032
Doors closed at Barau
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 dugout15 Mar 2032
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Victor Babatunde after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad15 Mar 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Olagunju and Barau agree another 3 years.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Shehu Amoo 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 terraces15 Mar 2032
Everybody has an opinion about Serge Obassa
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces8 Dec 2031
The mood at Barau has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market8 Dec 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 Barau, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Dec 2031
Only the photograph left for John Moffi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Moffi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barau the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Tempers go at Barau
Thabiso Msele 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 dugout8 Dec 2031
The manager makes an example of Luís Alberto
“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.
Boardroom8 Dec 2031
Barau sign a deal worth $27.8K a year
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
Squad8 Dec 2031
A season on the outside for Serge Obassa
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Barau has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market8 Dec 2031
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Barau know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout8 Dec 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 Osayi Osayi-Samuel is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout24 Nov 2031
This is not rotation. John Moffi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Barau is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Nov 2031
A falling-out at Barau
Chukwuma Nwakali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Nov 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leon Collins and Barau agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Nov 2031
A row about effort at Barau
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bright Eze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market24 Nov 2031
The Idris Saidu talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Barau know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
Ndidi Olayinka 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 Ndidi Olayinka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Squad
Jimmy Ambrose is training like a man with a point to make
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Bright Eze