“I did not go to Alashkert to sit and watch. I want to come back to El-Kanemi Warriors and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at El-Kanemi Warriors can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at El-Kanemi Warriors, and 9 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
“I did not go to Alashkert to sit and watch. I want to come back to El-Kanemi Warriors and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Mohammed Ibrahim is 34, with 26 appearances behind him, and El-Kanemi Warriors will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at El-Kanemi Warriors, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mohammed Ibrahim will call it something else in private.
“I did not go to Alashkert to sit and watch. I want to come back to El-Kanemi Warriors and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal that would have taken Zakka John to Kun Khalifat has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to El-Kanemi Warriors with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The shirt still fits. Jake Barbarouses is back at El-Kanemi Warriors, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at El-Kanemi Warriors, and 1 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Usman Abubakar reports back to El-Kanemi Warriors with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at El-Kanemi Warriors, and 7 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at El-Kanemi Warriors, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“I did not go to Alashkert to sit and watch. I want to come back to El-Kanemi Warriors and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
$2.1M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
“I did not go to Ashanti Gold to sit and watch. I want to come back to El-Kanemi Warriors and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. El-Kanemi Warriors know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at El-Kanemi Warriors can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Emmanuel Nwabufo knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at El-Kanemi Warriors can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El-Kanemi Warriors they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The name of Bashar Musa has come up in conversations El-Kanemi Warriors were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A 1-0 win over Rangers International, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Daddy Abdulrahman has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. El-Kanemi Warriors know, and have known for weeks.
18 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at El-Kanemi Warriors can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Daddy Abdulrahman has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. El-Kanemi Warriors know, and have known for weeks.
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El-Kanemi Warriors they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Plateau United go through and El-Kanemi Warriors go home, 0-1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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.
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors 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 El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El-Kanemi Warriors they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El-Kanemi Warriors they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Musa Wakili and El-Kanemi Warriors agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around El-Kanemi Warriors they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
The deal that would have taken Sule John to Remo Stars has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to El-Kanemi Warriors with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 37 with 2 appearances behind him, and El-Kanemi Warriors have to plan for both answers.
El-Kanemi Warriors spent the window trying to move Joseph Timi on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
The captaincy has been taken off Musa Wakili. El-Kanemi Warriors will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The shirt still fits. Taiwo Iwobi is back at El-Kanemi Warriors, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Isaac Onyeka is back at El-Kanemi Warriors, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Chidera Umar is back at El-Kanemi Warriors, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
A 1-0 win over Katsina United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
At 28 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. El-Kanemi Warriors have a decision that made itself.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Ismail Mukhtar
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Emmanuel Nwabufo has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors 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 El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Daddy Abdulrahman has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” El-Kanemi Warriors 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 El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Azeez Yusuf has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Kano Pillars go through and El-Kanemi Warriors go home, 0-2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at El-Kanemi Warriors has to find a result from somewhere.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at El-Kanemi Warriors is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The deal that would have taken Bashar Musa to Rivers United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to El-Kanemi Warriors with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried 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 El-Kanemi Warriors, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. El-Kanemi Warriors have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what El-Kanemi Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Jude Mamman is 20, and El-Kanemi Warriors have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Thankgod Ikeagwu may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. El-Kanemi Warriors have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Bunu Sale, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Emmanuel Nwabufo knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. El-Kanemi Warriors have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
A new face in his position, and Thankgod Ikeagwu suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. El-Kanemi Warriors have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Isaiah Ejeh arrives at El-Kanemi Warriors with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at El-Kanemi Warriors has been clear about where Mohammed Bangoura stands, which is more than many ever get.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Emmanuel Jonas has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. El-Kanemi Warriors know, and have known for weeks.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.