Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Davordzie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francis Acquah and Asante Kotoko agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Morifing Donzo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Dean Grobler was at the centre of it, Hasaacas were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Saaka Dauda 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Cletus Nombil'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.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marked 7.71. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Davordzie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Peter Amidu Acquah has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
Morifing Donzo 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Asante Kotoko, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Cletus Nombil arrives at Asante Kotoko with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Asante Kotoko. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paschal Durugbor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Asante Kotoko, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuel Djiku after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Peter Amidu Acquah has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
In brief
The dugoutKwame Opoku dropped after a run of poor form
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuel Djiku after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Davordzie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Asante Kotoko know which stage they are at.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I watch every Asante Kotoko game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Inter Allies runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Chances created: 11. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Inter Allies defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Bechem United will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Asante Kotoko were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Brown Irabor has just signed for Asante Kotoko, and for once the answer mattered.
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 7.04 for the rest of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Asante Kotoko had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bloemfontein Celtic, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saaka Dauda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Asante Kotoko know which stage they are at.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 21 gone
That is the business done at Asante Kotoko until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. St. Gallen have kept their man, and Asante Kotoko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrew Kyereh 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Heart of Lions waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bloemfontein Celtic have kept their man, and Asante Kotoko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asante Kotoko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Asante Kotoko have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
Asante Kotoko have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Ajax Cape Town 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.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Asante Kotoko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asante Kotoko can pretend not to have heard.
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Olanare 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.
Asante Kotoko asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Asante Kotoko have made the call to Bloemfontein Celtic. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Asante Kotoko had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mamelodi Sundowns, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Add another name to the list: BA All Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Emmanuel Antwi. The answer from Asante Kotoko has not changed — yet.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Asante Kotoko has been clear about where Inusah Adam stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutHenry Ansu asks for a word with the manager
63 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mamelodi Sundowns keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Asante Kotoko asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saaka Dauda 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.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Asante Kotoko people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asante Kotoko can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mamelodi Sundowns keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aaron Olanare was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Asante Kotoko asked and Kaizer Chiefs said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Asante Kotoko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Asante Kotoko have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mamelodi Sundowns keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Aduana Stars will make the call about Musa Hamzata this week. Asante Kotoko have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
A loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
In brief
SquadAsante Kotoko are still strangers to each other
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Johnson Owusu
The dugoutElvis Baffour has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
Asante Kotoko asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Jordan Amissah again, and this time the name on the line is Inter Allies. Asante Kotoko are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Bruce Bvuma is in the works
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
63 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Asante Kotoko have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gbolagade Adelowo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asante Kotoko the goodbyes have quietly begun.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Asante Kotoko have had the benefit of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aaron Olanare was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Asante Kotoko people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Berekum Chelsea this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer from Bechem United for Dari Haruna 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.
Asante Kotoko had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Kaizer Chiefs, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Dean Grobler 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 deal that would have taken Musa Hamzata to New Edubiase United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Asante Kotoko with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asante Kotoko can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mamelodi Sundowns keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kaizer Chiefs 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inter Allies waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Asante Kotoko have done the hard part with Berekum Chelsea, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Asante Kotoko offered $15.0K; Medeama said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Baba Schlupp was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $490.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with BA All Stars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $16.7K — a club that wants Fuzy Taylor enough to be asked twice.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Gbolagade Adelowo has agreed terms with Ashanti Gold for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Kwame Opoku 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.
$14.0K on the table at Medeama. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Johnson Owusu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asante Kotoko the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Asante Kotoko will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad31 May 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Asante Kotoko, and 4 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Asante Kotoko could ask drops and the wages Gbolagade Adelowo can ask rise.
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Chigozie Ani 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.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
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.
“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 Asante Kotoko will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Asante Kotoko, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Asante Kotoko. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chigozie Ani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Asante Kotoko, another week without a signature from Chigozie Ani.
“I watch every Asante Kotoko game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zeleznicar Pancevo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed Galadima trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Something was said to Philip Amoh and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Position 1 on 63 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Aaron Olanare will call it something else in private.
“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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Samuel Djiku to a room that had heard them before.
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 Elvis Baffour is on it.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Kwame Opoku
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
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 Apr 2027
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.” Samuel Djiku chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Musa Hamzata will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asante Kotoko the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kwame Opoku 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.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Chigozie Ani 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.
Liberty Professionals next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Asante Kotoko pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
Marked 7.42 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match3 Apr 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Asante Kotoko. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.08, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Asante Kotoko will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
“I watch every Asante Kotoko game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Great Olympics runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Zakaria Fuseini has his answer from Asante Kotoko; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Elvis Baffour is on it.
Wa All Stars next, and one man in the Asante Kotoko dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Asante Kotoko, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chigozie Ani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Aaron Olanare.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asante Kotoko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aaron Olanare and Asante Kotoko agree another 2 years.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.93 beside his name.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Emmanuel Antwi. 2‑0 against WAFA, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Camara 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Musa Hamzata is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Samuel Djiku on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
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.
Something was said to Philip Amoh and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Kwame Opoku
48 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Musa Hamzata will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asante Kotoko the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Asante Kotoko will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Asante Kotoko have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Asante Kotoko offered $1.8M; Berekum Chelsea said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Heart of Lions waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Asante Kotoko is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
$1.8M on the table at Berekum Chelsea. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Asante Kotoko until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The fee is $150.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Wa All Stars drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The terracesThe town asked, and Asante Kotoko paid $150.0K
New Edubiase United will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Asante Kotoko were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Asante Kotoko have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Kwame Opoku takes the afternoon — 9.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwame Opoku provided it, and the 9.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
14 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Dean Grobler 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.
Marked 8.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
Player ratingsPaschal Durugbor was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Musa Hamzata
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Asante Kotoko people have started saying his name in the past tense.
36 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Emmanuel Antwi had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asante Kotoko can pretend not to have heard.
Kwame Opoku 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 Jan 2027
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Olanare 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.
Asante Kotoko have made the call to Brann. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Asante Kotoko people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Add another name to the list: Heart of Lions have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Peter Amidu Acquah. The answer from Asante Kotoko has not changed — yet.
The offer from Heart of Lions for Isaac Mintah 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.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Asante Kotoko had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The offer from New Edubiase United for Emmanuel Antwi 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.
Chigozie Ani 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 phone has started ringing about Lord Hilary Adabo again, and this time the name on the line is Bechem United. Asante Kotoko are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Asante Kotoko has been clear about where Patrick Asiedu stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aaron Olanare was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.98 on the card, and the Asante Kotoko support went home talking about one name.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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 1‑2 Samuel Djiku left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Chigozie Ani 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chigozie Ani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Saaka Dauda was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.68. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Kwame Opoku in the middle of it, and Great Olympics unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Liberty Professionals next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
In brief
The dugoutAaron Olanare dropped after a run of poor form
Paschal Durugbor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Dean Grobler 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.
Marked 7.98 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Asante Kotoko had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Aaron Olanare
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Samuel Djiku on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Asante Kotoko, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Great Olympics in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Olanare 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Asante Kotoko will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Emmanuel Antwi decided nobody was going anywhere. BA All Stars had no time left to answer.
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Asante Kotoko know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Samuel Djiku kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Chances created: 9. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Asante Kotoko. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lord Hilary Adabo and Asante Kotoko agree another 3 years.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Samuel Djiku kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asante Kotoko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Aaron Olanare 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Asante Kotoko will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
The dugoutElvis Baffour has become a man the manager trusts
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.
“I did not go to Great Olympics to sit and watch. I want to come back to Asante Kotoko and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Samuel Djiku to a room that had heard them before.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Chigozie Ani 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dean Grobler 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kwame Opoku. 2‑0 against Hearts of Oak, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Asante Kotoko prefer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Aaron Olanare 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kwame Opoku. 2‑1 against Hasaacas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match24 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Asante Kotoko. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Out, 0‑0 to BA All Stars, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Up for the corner, and Andrews Ntim delivers — 7.19
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Andrews Ntim scored, was marked 7.19, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dean Grobler 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.
A 2‑0 win over Heart of Lions, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dean Grobler 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Asante Kotoko are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I did not go to Great Olympics to sit and watch. I want to come back to Asante Kotoko and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Asante Kotoko will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Asante Kotoko. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutJohnson Owusu asks for a word with the manager
Kwame Opoku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Aaron Olanare 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.
A 2‑1 win over Berekum Chelsea, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Saaka Dauda is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with New Edubiase United the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Asante Kotoko will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Kwame Opoku takes the afternoon — 8.82
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kwame Opoku provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Grobler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Two goals and a mark of 8.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.74, and 2 involvements.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dean Grobler 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.
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
4‑0, and Saaka Dauda took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Asante Kotoko tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Saaka Dauda takes the afternoon — 8.40
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saaka Dauda provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Asante Kotoko, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chigozie Ani 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Saaka Dauda in the middle of it, and Bechem United unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Asante Kotoko are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I did not go to Great Olympics to sit and watch. I want to come back to Asante Kotoko and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The offer from BA All Stars for Walid Fuseini 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.
The deal that would have taken Isaac Mintah to Inter Allies has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Asante Kotoko with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dean Grobler 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Christian Mohammed is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chigozie Ani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The offer from Shooting Stars for Mohammed Yahaya 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asante Kotoko can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aaron Olanare was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Asante Kotoko have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
$510.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Chigozie Ani has, at Asante Kotoko, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $510.0K sale of Hubert Gyau
He is going to Bechem United, the club has $510.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asante Kotoko can pretend not to have heard.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Olanare 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asante Kotoko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Dean Grobler from Free State Stars for $6.3M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
The name of Hubert Gyau has come up in conversations Asante Kotoko were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Dean Grobler 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 clubs have shaken hands with Free State Stars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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.
Kwame Opoku 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. WAFA have kept their man, and Asante Kotoko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Morifing Donzo commits to Asante Kotoko for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Asante Kotoko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Olanare 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kamaldeen Acquah 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andre Essien 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrick Asante 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.
Asante Kotoko have gone to Free State Stars 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.
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.