Marked for Victor Ogunjobi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Dec 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Victor Ogunjobi and Niger Tornadoes agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
Olawale Emmanuel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Niger Tornadoes 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.
Market24 Dec 2035
The Ismail Sarki talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Niger Tornadoes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Dec 2035
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Victor Ogunjobi 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.
Market10 Dec 2035
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Victor Okoye 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.
Market10 Dec 2035
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oche Amoo 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.
Market10 Dec 2035
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Olayinka Ademola 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.
Squad10 Dec 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oche Awoniyi and Niger Tornadoes agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Dec 2035
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.
Match10 Dec 2035
Continental football is in reach for Niger Tornadoes
76 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
The dugout10 Dec 2035
Frank Onuachu 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.
Boardroom10 Dec 2035
111 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.