The words a physio says slowly. 144 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Medeama waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Position 3, 63 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax Cape Town have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Yakub Hameed 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nana Kudus is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
153 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Aduana Stars for Sunday Megwo 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Seidu Ismaila has agreed terms with Hasaacas for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next 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 Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Wa All Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Oluwaseun Oladimeji. The answer from Ashanti Gold has not changed — yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ashanti Gold have done the hard part with Dinamo Bucharest, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Araphat Mohammed 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 easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Boateng and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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 name of Isaac Twum has come up in conversations Ashanti Gold were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasiu Falolu 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 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ashanti Gold could ask drops and the wages Sunday Megwo can ask rise.
21 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
The offer from Medeama for Isaac Twum 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.
Position 3, 63 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Seidu Basit will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The name of Sunday Megwo has come up in conversations Ashanti Gold were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ashanti Gold will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Seidu Basit 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Gladson Adjei 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.
Dinamo Bucharest 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.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aduana Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer went to Asante Kotoko 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.
Seidu Basit 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.
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 Sunday Megwo is on it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Rahman Abdul has, at Ashanti Gold, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Ashanti Gold have made the call to Berekum Chelsea. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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.
In brief
The dugoutSunday Megwo asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sunday Megwo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ashanti Gold and Medeama have settled on $300.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
$41.0K was the most the club would pay and Hearts of Oak were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nzube Chukwurah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 3, 63 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
$41.0K on the table at Hearts of Oak. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Ashanti Gold asked and Maccabi Tel Aviv 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Medeama for Isaac Twum 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Wasiu Falolu has just signed for Ashanti Gold, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ashanti Gold asked and OFK Beograd said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Sunday Megwo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ashanti Gold.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Wasiu Falolu 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 loan enquiry to Maccabi Tel Aviv: 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
The dugoutSunday Megwo has become a man the manager trusts
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Bucharest have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ashanti Gold, another week without a signature from Oluwaseun Oladimeji.
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 at Ashanti Gold 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Seidu Basit 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 Nzube Chukwurah 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 Ashanti Gold has been clear about where Seidu Ismaila stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Araphat Mohammed 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 at Ashanti Gold 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Tetteh signs something — a contract at Ashanti Gold or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sunday Megwo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nzube Chukwurah 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 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 Sunday Megwo is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniel Ifeanyichukwu signs something — a contract at Ashanti Gold or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ashanti Gold could ask drops and the wages Hubert Gyau can ask rise.
In brief
The dugoutKelvin Asenso knocks on the manager’s door
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anderson Asiedu and Ashanti Gold agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Yakub Hameed 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.
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nzube Chukwurah 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
5 new faces, and Ashanti Gold 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.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ashanti Gold, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 3, 63 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Araphat Mohammed 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 Nzube Chukwurah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ashanti Gold. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ashanti Gold will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ashanti Gold, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Seidu Basit 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.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ashanti Gold could ask drops and the wages Yakub Hameed can ask rise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Squad2 Apr 2029
8 new faces, and Ashanti Gold 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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gladson Adjei has his answer from Ashanti Gold; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 3 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 63 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Godbless Ayeke is living that version at Ashanti Gold, and it tends to show in the first month.
Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sunday Megwo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Araphat Mohammed 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 137 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Ashanti Gold will not try tonight.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ashanti Gold and Liberty Professionals, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Two goals and a mark of 9.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kofi Asante has, at Ashanti Gold, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The shirt still fits. Gladson Adjei is back at Ashanti Gold, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
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.
Samuel Tetteh scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Great Olympics, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
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 Baba Schlupp left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Sunday Megwo will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Ashanti Gold escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Position 2, 57 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
A brace, and Sunday Megwo takes the afternoon — 9.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sunday Megwo provided it, and the 9.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ashanti Gold will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Seidu Basit was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.60. 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.
1‑4 against Wa All Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Ashanti Gold will try again when the window opens; Asante Kotoko may not be selling by then.
The deal that would have taken Pius Ibrahim to Bechem United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Ashanti Gold with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
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 Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ashanti Gold 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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 Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$4.9M on the table at Asante Kotoko. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Ashanti Gold close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Ebenezer Assifuah 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. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Daniel Ifeanyichukwu has just signed for Ashanti Gold, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. New Edubiase United kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Ashanti Gold will be asked about the last half hour all week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Ohene will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Berekum Chelsea waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
BA All Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ashanti Gold were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
5 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
6 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ashanti Gold and BA All Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bechem United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Abdul-Aziz Nurudeen has, at Ashanti Gold, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ashanti Gold have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Berekum Chelsea will make the call about Sunday Megwo this week. Ashanti Gold have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ashanti Gold scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
Position 2, 40 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Sunday Megwo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.75. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oluwaseun Oladimeji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Jesse Akila was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.42. 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Ebenezer Assifuah 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.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
7.95, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Ashanti Gold had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
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.” Baba Schlupp kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 Jesse Akila is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ebenezer Assifuah 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.
Asante Kotoko left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
6 matches without defeat, and then Asante Kotoko. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Jesse Akila was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. 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.
Hearts of Oak will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ashanti Gold were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
A brace, and Seidu Basit takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Seidu Basit provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
5 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jesse Akila. 1‑0 against Liberty Professionals, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Jesse Akila was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Hearts of Oak 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
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Araphat Mohammed at his very best
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.13 — 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutJesse Akila has become a man the manager trusts
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Selasie Bakai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
A 3‑1 win over Great Olympics, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Araphat Mohammed 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Heart of Lions spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Ohene will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
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.
Jesse Akila was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.60. 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.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Samuel Tetteh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 3, 19 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Ebenezer Assifuah 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 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.
Berekum Chelsea held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Ashanti Gold answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold 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 Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Inter Allies ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
A brace, and Seidu Basit takes the afternoon — 9.37
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Seidu Basit provided it, and the 9.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Jesse Akila was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.61. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Selasie Bakai scored in the 89th minute, Inter Allies had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Ashanti Gold took the lot.
Ebenezer Assifuah 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oluwaseun Oladimeji 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Medeama will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ashanti Gold were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal that would have taken Pius Ibrahim to Great Olympics has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Ashanti Gold with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
A brace, and Jesse Akila takes the afternoon — 8.59
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jesse Akila provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deal that would have taken Sunday Megwo to Medeama has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Ashanti Gold with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jesse Akila had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and WAFA were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 14 gone
That is the business done at Ashanti Gold 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 offer from Hasaacas for Pius Ibrahim 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Medeama waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold 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 Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Wa All Stars will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Toyeeb Gidado has pre-agreed a move to Ashanti Gold, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Real Bamako have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Medeama have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Selasie Bakai. The answer from Ashanti Gold has not changed — yet.
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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Seidu Ismaila is living that version at Ashanti Gold, and it tends to show in the first month.
The deal with Bidvest Wits 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.
Araphat Mohammed 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 offer went to Aduana Stars 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.
Ashanti Gold 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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ashanti Gold 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.
The shirt still fits. Ebenezer Assifuah is back at Ashanti Gold, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Dennis Votere is a Ashanti Gold player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Araphat Mohammed 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 Aug 2028
Jesse Akila has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Ashanti Gold asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mamudo Moro has agreed terms with Great Olympics for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Ashanti Gold have gone to Aduana 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Ashanti Gold are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bechem United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Asante Kotoko 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.
Seidu Basit 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.
“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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fred Dabanka 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 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ashanti Gold could ask drops and the wages Muhammed Kabiru can ask rise.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer went to Aduana Stars 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Selasie Bakai again, and this time the name on the line is Hearts of Oak. Ashanti Gold are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muritala Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
$8.0K was the most the club would pay and Aduana Stars were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zamalek have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Selasie Bakai has come up in conversations Ashanti Gold were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
6 new faces, and Ashanti Gold 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.
In brief
The dugoutPolo Nartey has become a man the manager trusts
59 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Ashanti Gold will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The offer went to Aduana Stars 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
BoardroomAshanti Gold sign 6 boys into the academy
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with Asante Kotoko; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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.
Ashanti Gold have made the call to Zamalek. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ashanti Gold could ask drops and the wages Muhammed Kabiru can ask rise.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Godwin Dede trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Kabiru will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything agreed with SuperSport United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Muhammed Kabiru 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fred Dabanka 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 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 is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Ashanti Gold are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Ohene trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The deal with Asante Kotoko 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Muhammed Kabiru has agreed terms with Hearts of Oak for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Araphat Mohammed 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rivers United have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Bechem United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Selasie Bakai. The answer from Ashanti Gold has not changed — yet.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Fred Dabanka 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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ebenezer Assifuah 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Omar Medjani commits to Ashanti Gold for another 4 years.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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.
Rivers United 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.
Ashanti Gold have made the call to Hearts of Oak. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is 18, and nobody at Ashanti Gold signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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 Jesse Akila is on 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 Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raphael Amponsah, and the manager let it.
Squad29 May 2028
Fred Dabanka 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.
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 Samuel Tetteh is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ashanti Gold. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Ashanti Gold have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
In brief
The dugoutSeth Kwadwo knocks on the manager's door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Selasie Bakai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Bathusi Aubaas 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 Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Baba Mensah
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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 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 Polo Nartey is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sunday Megwo signs something — a contract at Ashanti Gold or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Something was said to Pius Ibrahim and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Godwin Dede trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold 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 Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ashanti Gold, another week without a signature from Muhammed Kabiru.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fred Dabanka 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 at Ashanti Gold 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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ashanti Gold could ask drops and the wages Muhammed Kabiru can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ashanti Gold. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Selasie Bakai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 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 Ashanti Gold 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 Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Polo Nartey is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sunday Megwo signs something — a contract at Ashanti Gold or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ashanti Gold, another week without a signature from Godwin Dede.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Godwin Dede 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.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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 captaincy has been taken off Jesse Akila. Ashanti Gold will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
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 Godwin Dede.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Baba Schlupp after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Bathusi Aubaas 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 Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 8.33 — 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.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
A season average of 7.30 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Baba Schlupp, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Kegan Johannes 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.
He is 22 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.
8.04. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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 Baba Schlupp to a room that had heard them before.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fred Dabanka 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Baba Schlupp could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutKwame Adjei dropped after a run of poor form
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bathusi Aubaas 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 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Kwame Adjei
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.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
SquadWords at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Wa All Stars moved on, Pius Ibrahim reports back to Ashanti Gold, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ashanti Gold, another week without a signature from Godwin Dede.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fred Dabanka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
“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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Ashanti Gold 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 Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thomas Agyepong. 2‑0 against Berekum Chelsea, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Thomas Agyepong was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.72. 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.
Add another name to the list: Wa All Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Pius Ibrahim. The answer from Ashanti Gold has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Marked 8.24. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ashanti Gold.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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 dugout31 Jan 2028
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Baba Schlupp to a room that had heard them before.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Raphael Amponsah has, at Ashanti Gold, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Ashanti Gold 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.
A 2‑1 win over New Edubiase United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thomas Agyepong provided it, and the 9.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Medeama for Nzube Chukwurah 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 Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thomas Agyepong. 5‑3 against BA All Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Kegan Johannes 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ashanti Gold and BA All Stars in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
Player ratingsJesse Akila beats them one at a time
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Inter Allies were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Kegan Johannes 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.
At 22 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.
A 1‑0 win over Inter Allies, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
2‑4 against New Edubiase United, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
8 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Selasie Bakai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ashanti Gold and New Edubiase United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muritala Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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 at Ashanti Gold 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Half the programme played, position 5, 27 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Fred Dabanka 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Selasie Bakai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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 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 Polo Nartey is on it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Pius Ibrahim has his answer from Ashanti Gold; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Seth Kwadwo's mistake
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Kegan Johannes 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.
6 goals in one match, Jesse Akila on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ashanti Gold and Liberty Professionals.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muritala Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Nov 2027
After 5 games, Ashanti Gold finally taste it again
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Hasaacas; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Andoh 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.
19 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
5 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.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
At 22 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
4 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Selasie Bakai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A performance of 8.43 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Isaac Twum was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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.
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match30 Oct 2027
Isaac Twum wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Isaac Twum found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Wa All Stars went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
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 7.86 for the rest of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
A 1‑0 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Selasie Bakai has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muritala Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Baba Schlupp, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mohammed Fatau
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Aduana Stars, and it could have been more.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Araphat Mohammed, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.18
A mark of 8.18 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Araphat Mohammed 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.
Marked 8.36 — 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The 4-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Araphat Mohammed was at the centre of it, Inter Allies were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Two goals and a mark of 9.04 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.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A brace, and Sunday Megwo takes the afternoon — 9.58
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sunday Megwo provided it, and the 9.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kegan Johannes 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.
Marked 8.36. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ashanti Gold.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muritala Ibrahim 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match25 Sep 2027
After 11 games, Ashanti Gold finally taste it again
The first defeat in 11 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Inter Allies; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Inter Allies left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Selasie Bakai has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muritala Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
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 0‑1 Baba Schlupp left the room before anybody could ask which.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Bathusi Aubaas 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Isaac Twum has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Araphat Mohammed 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Aden Dreyer
Player ratingsSunday Megwo was on a different afternoon to everybody else