Qamar Adegoke 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 easiest signature of my career.” Treasure Egharevba and Shooting Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Shooting Stars 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.
3 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.
Everything agreed with Rivers United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Awal Auta 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Shooting Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A 5‑1 win over Kano Pillars, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings15 Jul 2030
A brace, and Qamar Adegoke takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Qamar Adegoke provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Nasarawa United spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
“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 The request is on a desk at Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shooting Stars have done the hard part with Rivers United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Enyimba have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings8 Jul 2030
Kabiru Tijjani was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.50. 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.
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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bayelsa United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Abia Warriors the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Shooting Stars will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.75 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Shooting Stars asked and Remo Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Favour Bala, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Jul 2030
Kabiru Tijjani was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kano Pillars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shooting Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer went to Enyimba 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.
Shooting Stars asked and Rivers United 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Djoliba waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
Qamar Adegoke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 Jun 2030
Awal Auta was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.47. 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 3‑1 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.
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Shooting Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Awal Auta 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.
Shooting Stars asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Djoliba have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Uthman Olawumi. The answer from Shooting Stars has not changed — yet.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Barau will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Shooting Stars were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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, Peter Madu could afford to be generous.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Shooting Stars 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 Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Shooting Stars, another week without a signature from Favour Bala.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Awal Auta provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Qamar Adegoke 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 easiest signature of my career.” Jamiu Amusat and Shooting Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moses Adikwu 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 Shooting Stars has been clear about where Favour Bala stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Favour Bala
A 2‑1 win over Nasarawa United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Louis Umoh decided nobody was going anywhere. Nasarawa United had no time left to answer.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Louis Umoh scored, was marked 7.92, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Awal Auta 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars 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 Toheeb Adebayo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Warri Wolves scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 dugout22 Apr 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Peter Madu chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against El-Kanemi Warriors in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Moses Adikwu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Peter Madu after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑2 to Rangers International, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
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 0‑2 Peter Madu left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑3 to Kwara United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wilfred Omeruo and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Shooting Stars has been clear about where Daniel Monday stands, which is more than many ever get.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Qamar Adegoke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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.
Shots: 14. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 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. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Awal Auta 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Shooting Stars and Kano Pillars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
Qamar Adegoke 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: Qamar Adegoke. 3‑1 against Nasarawa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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 season average of 7.27 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Awal Auta was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.66. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Moses Adikwu 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
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.” Peter Madu, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 words a physio says slowly. 70 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 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Shooting Stars know which stage they are at.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutKabiru Tijjani has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutFavour Bala asks for a word with the manager
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Shooting Stars, another week without a signature from Favour Bala.
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1‑6 against Rivers United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Enyimba; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Awal Auta 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Shooting Stars and Rivers United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2030
$270.0K settles it between the clubs for Kelvin Ogunga
Enyimba have accepted the money. What Shooting Stars do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Shooting Stars had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ikorodu City, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shooting Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shooting Stars have done the hard part with Charleroi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 105 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cotonsport Garoua have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Salomon Chigoziem has his answer from Shooting Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Kun Khalifat spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shooting Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
A brace, and Qamar Adegoke takes the afternoon — 9.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Qamar Adegoke provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Shooting Stars moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Peter Madu, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
The deal with Remo Stars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Shooting Stars had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Rivers United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Awal Auta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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 Awal Auta is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Qamar Adegoke signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
In brief
The dugoutQamar Adegoke 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars 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.
Awal Auta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamiu Amusat 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 Shooting Stars 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.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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. Shooting Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Shooting Stars could ask drops and the wages Bunu Sale can ask rise.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Daniel Edeh are not good
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars 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 Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 Muyiwa Balogun signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Awal Auta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Moses Adikwu 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 Kabiru Tijjani is on it.
Awal Auta 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.
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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 Shooting Stars 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shooting Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shooting Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shooting Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Qamar Adegoke signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Shooting Stars, another week without a signature from Clement Destiny.
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Moses Adikwu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 Muyiwa Balogun signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shooting Stars, 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.” Shooting Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Awal Auta 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.
In brief
SquadQamar Adegoke falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutKabiru Tijjani has become a man the manager trusts
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Awal Auta 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.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Darlintin Ovunda is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Salomon Chigoziem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shooting Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Shooting Stars would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Moses Adikwu and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Qamar Adegoke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Moses Adikwu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bunu Sale has his answer from Shooting Stars; 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shooting Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Qamar Adegoke signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Moses Adikwu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emmanuel Madu and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Oct 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 Peter Madu left the room before anybody could ask which.
Position 10 on 54 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.
7 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.
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.
Awal Auta 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 easiest signature of my career.” Toheeb Adebayo and Shooting Stars agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Madu, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Sep 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 2‑3 Peter Madu left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Awal Auta provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 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.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joshua Okereke and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rivers United have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ifeanyi Lawal has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Shooting Stars close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 15 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.
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Remo Stars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
$2.0K was the most the club would pay and Kano Pillars 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Moses Adikwu 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 Kabiru Tijjani is on it.
Shooting Stars have gone to Kano Pillars 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo Stars have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Shooting Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shooting Stars have done the hard part with Enyimba, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars 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 Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shooting Stars asked and Rivers United 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 brace, and Qamar Adegoke takes the afternoon — 9.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Qamar Adegoke provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 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.
Shooting Stars asked and Club Brugge 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Awal Auta wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Awal Auta found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Niger Tornadoes went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Two goals and a mark of 8.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lekan Abdulsalam will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs have shaken hands with Rivers United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Shooting Stars did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Qamar Adegoke falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 2‑1 win over Niger Tornadoes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutIsmail Ayodele has become a man the manager trusts
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Moses Adikwu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Qamar Adegoke falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.42 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Shooting Stars people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kenneth Lookman provided it, and the 9.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody 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 Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Bendel Insurance, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Shooting Stars and Bendel Insurance, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bunu Sale has just signed for Shooting Stars, and for once the answer mattered.
Everything agreed with Remo Stars, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rivers United have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Toheeb Adebayo 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.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shooting Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Rivers United 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Farense have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Salomon Chigoziem. 1‑0 against Abia Warriors, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leon Bassey and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
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.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Toheeb Adebayo
The dugoutIsmail Ayodele has become a man the manager trusts
152Edition
The Shooting Stars Gazette
25 Jun 2029
From our football correspondentSteady
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
$130.0K settles it between the clubs for Favour Bala
Plateau United have accepted the money. What Shooting Stars do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
7 goals in one match, Muyiwa Balogun on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Shooting Stars and Ikorodu City.
Shooting Stars asked and Slavia Prague 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 Moses Adikwu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Awal Auta 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Shooting Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Rivers United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Toheeb Adebayo 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.
Slavia Prague 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shooting Stars have done the hard part with Remo Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sagir Lawan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shooting Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Sagir Lawan has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Moses Adikwu 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A 3‑1 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Some 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.
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Remo Stars; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.78, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Qamar Adegoke was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.54. 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Edeh and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
Ebuka Akobundu 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Salomon Chigoziem provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Moses Adikwu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Barau were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Peter Madu could afford to be generous.
Qamar Adegoke 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 unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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 Ismail Ayodele is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shooting Stars will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Toheeb Adebayo 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 Kabiru Tijjani is on it.
Successful dribbles: 49. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Shooting Stars will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Moses Adikwu 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.
It needed Awal Auta to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against El-Kanemi Warriors, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Peter Madu after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 Jamiu Amusat is on it.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Apr 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Adikwu 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Qamar Adegoke. 2‑1 against Plateau United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ebunobi Onyedika and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Peter Madu on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kabiru Tijjani and Shooting Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Moses Adikwu 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Shooting Stars and Rangers International, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
2‑4 to Rangers International, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salomon Chigoziem is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Madu after 2‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutKabiru Tijjani has become a man the manager trusts
Toheeb Adebayo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.05
A mark of 8.05 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kabiru Tijjani and Shooting Stars agree another 4 years.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Moses Adikwu 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.
At 20 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.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Qamar Adegoke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sagir Lawan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
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.” Peter Madu, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
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 Jamiu Amusat 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 Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Shooting Stars told Maxwell Arthur something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Peter Madu chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Salomon Chigoziem’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Shooting Stars needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ismail Ayodele and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salomon Chigoziem 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 point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lekan Abdulsalam has his answer from Shooting Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Peter Madu on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ismail Ayodele trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salomon Chigoziem 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Bayelsa United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salomon Chigoziem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shooting Stars asked and Rivers United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Awal Auta 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.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Doxa have kept their man, and Shooting Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Louis Umoh has his answer from Shooting Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Qamar Adegoke
The offer from Bayelsa United for Toheeb Adebayo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ezekiel Antony has just signed for Shooting Stars, and for once the answer mattered.
Shooting Stars asked and Plateau United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Successful dribbles: 38. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
$180.0K settles it between the clubs for Ebube Success
Enyimba have accepted the money. What Shooting Stars do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Awal Auta 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 Salomon Chigoziem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Shooting Stars asked and Kasimpasa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 20 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.
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.
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Awal Auta 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.
Shooting Stars asked and Rivers United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.90 beside his name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars 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 Abubakar Taheer 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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Shooting Stars have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.99, and 2 involvements.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Shooting Stars asked and Enyimba said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Shooting Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salomon Chigoziem is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Tomiwa Awojob is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Muyiwa Balogun has his answer from Shooting Stars; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kabiru Tijjani is on 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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abubakar Taheer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxwell Arthur and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salomon Chigoziem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abubakar Taheer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Jamiu Amusat is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abubakar Taheer signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars 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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Johnmark Atule 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.” Maxwell Arthur and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Moses Adikwu 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.
Qamar Adegoke 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 Salomon Chigoziem 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shooting Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Issa Yusuf signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
SquadDapal Monday is put on a programme of his own
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abubakar Taheer 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 Salomon Chigoziem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Salomon Chigoziem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 Johnmark Atule signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Louis Umoh are not good
Awal Auta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Qamar Adegoke falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 Abubakar Taheer signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Abubakar Taheer 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.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abubakar Taheer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Lekan Abdulsalam is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Johnmark Atule signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Moses Adikwu 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.
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 Jamiu Amusat is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Toheeb Adebayo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jamiu Amusat and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years.
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 Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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 Shooting Stars 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 Issa Yusuf signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shooting Stars 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 Salomon Chigoziem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Darlintin Ovunda is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Nobody at Shooting Stars 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 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.
Ebunobi Onyedika 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 easiest signature of my career.” Jamilu Ejuke and Shooting Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abubakar Taheer signs something — a contract at Shooting Stars 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 Shooting Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 7 on 58 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.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Johnmark Atule 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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 needed Abubakar Taheer to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bendel Insurance, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Peter Madu after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutIsmail Ayodele has become a man the manager trusts
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Elkanah Godgift reports back to Shooting Stars with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Qamar Adegoke 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salomon Chigoziem 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.
Shooting Stars asked and APOEL said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shooting Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Abiodun Adegoke has gone, the accounts have $100.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything agreed with DAC Dunajska Streda, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two 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 Shooting Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Enyimba paid $100.0K and Shooting Stars took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Shooting Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qamar Adegoke 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.