Marked for Patrick Baba
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Sep 2035
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Tempers go at WAFA
Nana Amoah 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 dugout17 Sep 2035
This is not rotation. Abeiku Asante has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Sep 2035
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.
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout17 Sep 2035
Andre Acquah gets picked when it counts
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 Andre Acquah is on it.
The dugout17 Sep 2035
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Nana Schlupp chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout17 Sep 2035
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.
Match15 Sep 2035
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Medeama will be the happier side with the point.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Sep 2035
Ernest 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.
Market10 Sep 2035
WAFA say no — this time
The offer from Hasaacas for Samuel Gyan was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market10 Sep 2035
The deal that would have taken Jeffrey Sulemana to Inter Allies has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to WAFA with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad10 Sep 2035
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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kwadwo Addo and WAFA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
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 a squad player is on it.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamaldeen Afful 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.
Market10 Sep 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
Patrick Baba 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Aug 2035
“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 Aug 2035
Tempers go at WAFA
Nana Amoah 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 dugout20 Aug 2035
This is not rotation. Abeiku Asante has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise.
Market20 Aug 2035
Add another name to the list: Wa All Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ernest Kudus. The answer from WAFA has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2035
WAFA asked and Asante Kotoko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad20 Aug 2035
Jonathan Addo 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.
Squad20 Aug 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Amoah and WAFA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout20 Aug 2035
Gladson Ayew is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market20 Aug 2035
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Abdul Yakubu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Aug 2035
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and BA All Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market13 Aug 2035
“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.
Market13 Aug 2035
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market13 Aug 2035
Abdul Paintsil 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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. a squad player 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 targets13 Aug 2035
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.
The dugout13 Aug 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.
The dugout13 Aug 2035
Patrick Baba 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Jul 2035
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market23 Jul 2035
“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.
Market23 Jul 2035
The bid was some way short and WAFA did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Tempers go at WAFA
Nana Amoah 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 dugout23 Jul 2035
This is not rotation. Abeiku Asante has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. a squad player 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 2035
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.
Market23 Jul 2035
Bechem United are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. WAFA will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout23 Jul 2035
Gladson Ayew is still paying for one afternoon at WAFA
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Jul 2035
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hasaacas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market16 Jul 2035
Amos Partey 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.
Market16 Jul 2035
WAFA say no — this time
The offer from Liberty Professionals for Ernest Kudus was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Abraham Kyereh 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.
The dugout16 Jul 2035
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 a squad player is on it.
The dugout16 Jul 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrick Baba, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jun 2035
89 days out for Thomas Atiemo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WAFA will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jun 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. WAFA have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market25 Jun 2035
“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 WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Tempers go at WAFA
Nana Amoah 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 dugout25 Jun 2035
This is not rotation. Abeiku Asante has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise.
Market25 Jun 2035
Add another name to the list: Liberty Professionals have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abeiku Asante. The answer from WAFA has not changed — yet.
Squad25 Jun 2035
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and a squad player was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jun 2035
Gladson Ayew is still paying for one afternoon at WAFA
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market25 Jun 2035
The name of Andre Acquah keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WAFA say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jun 2035
96 days out for Thomas Atiemo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WAFA will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Jun 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. WAFA have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market18 Jun 2035
“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 WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jun 2035
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.
Squad18 Jun 2035
Kamaldeen Inusah 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.
The dugout18 Jun 2035
Nobody at WAFA 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.
The dugout18 Jun 2035
The manager makes an example of Patrick Baba
“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.
Market18 Jun 2035
The Abdul Yakubu talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. WAFA know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout18 Jun 2035
Baba Adjei 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2034
Tempers go at WAFA
Nana Amoah 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.
Squad23 Oct 2034
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and a squad player was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings23 Oct 2034
Marked 7.77 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, WAFA had the best player on the pitch.
Match21 Oct 2034
It needed Andre Acquah to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Great Olympics, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
Andre Acquah gets picked when it counts
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 Andre Acquah is on it.
Player ratings23 Oct 2034
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Annan, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nana Schlupp was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the WAFA dressing room was either.
Market23 Oct 2034
The name of Andre Acquah keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WAFA say nothing, which says plenty.