Marked for Patrick Afful
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Apr 2036
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
Patrick Afful: 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.” Berekum Chelsea have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Seidu Abubakar 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 dugout14 Apr 2036
“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.
Match12 Apr 2036
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Berekum Chelsea had all but put away. BA All Stars will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Match12 Apr 2036
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
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.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
Kamaldeen Kudus 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout31 Mar 2036
This is not rotation. Kamaldeen Bukari has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Berekum Chelsea is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Seidu Abubakar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
“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 dugout31 Mar 2036
The manager has not finished forgetting Patrick Afful'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.
Looking ahead31 Mar 2036
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Medeama in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
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.
Market31 Mar 2036
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Berekum Chelsea know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market31 Mar 2036
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Feb 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Berekum Chelsea is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Feb 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Berekum Chelsea this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
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 Augustine Agyapong is on it.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
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.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Market25 Feb 2036
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Samuel Paintsil has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Berekum Chelsea.
Squad25 Feb 2036
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Berekum Chelsea will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
The manager makes an example of Patrick Afful
“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.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Dec 2035
0‑3 against BA All Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad24 Dec 2035
There were 6 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.
Match22 Dec 2035
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match22 Dec 2035
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad24 Dec 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kwesi Sorotu Badori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Dec 2035
Seidu Abubakar 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 dugout24 Dec 2035
“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.
Boardroom24 Dec 2035
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 dugout24 Dec 2035
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 0‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Nov 2035
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Seidu Abubakar 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.
Squad19 Nov 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amos Mohammed and Berekum Chelsea agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Patrick Afful 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.
The dugout19 Nov 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 dugout19 Nov 2035
Ibrahim Hassan 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 Ibrahim Hassan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Berekum Chelsea. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Boardroom19 Nov 2035
121 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.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Looking ahead: the trip to Hasaacas
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Squad
Daniel Ayew named in the team of the week
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Oct 2035
Kamaldeen Kudus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Words at Berekum Chelsea training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kwesi Sorotu Badori 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.
Market15 Oct 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Berekum Chelsea, another week without a signature from Felix Sulemana.
Squad15 Oct 2035
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Berekum Chelsea will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
The manager makes an example of Daouda Sidibé
“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.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Patrick Afful'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.
The dugout15 Oct 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.
Market15 Oct 2035
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Berekum Chelsea know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad15 Oct 2035
A season on the outside for Daouda Sidibé
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Berekum Chelsea has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.