Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Joseph was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Wasiu Jimoh signs something — a contract at Warri Wolves or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Isioma 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chisom Orji trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Othuke Egbo 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Warri Wolves know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Miracle Ukadike is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Wasiu Jimoh
SquadWasiu Jimoh is training like a man with a point to make
“The easiest signature of my career.” Othuke Egbo and Warri Wolves agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Isioma 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody at Warri Wolves will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Othuke Egbo has written the date down.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Warri Wolves the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 49 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Warri Wolves are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Gift Isioma falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Peter Simon to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutUche Sabastine has become a man the manager trusts
Vincent Temitope 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.” Innocent Orukpe and Warri Wolves 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Remo Stars.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Warri Wolves has been clear about where Ntando Chai stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Warri Wolves asked and Ikorodu City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Warri Wolves is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Vincent Edafe's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$37.0K was the most the club would pay and El-Kanemi Warriors 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Peter Simon to a room that had heard them before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ezekiel Oroh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Enyimba next, and one man in the Warri Wolves dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Nasarawa United moved on, Godstime Edewor reports back to Warri Wolves, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Warri Wolves have gone to El-Kanemi Warriors 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Isioma is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Warri Wolves know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
In brief
The dugoutChisom Orji 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Othuke Egbo 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Isioma 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 Warri Wolves has been clear about where Amatesiro Shemayi stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Othuke Egbo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutUche Sabastine has become a man the manager trusts
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Warri Wolves have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.57 for the rest of it.
$37.0K on the table at El-Kanemi Warriors. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Gift Isioma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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. Ikorodu City have kept their man, and Warri Wolves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Warri Wolves is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Othuke Egbo will call it something else in private.
El-Kanemi Warriors wanted more than $37.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya 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. Niger Tornadoes have kept their man, and Warri Wolves 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: Wasiu Jimoh. 2‑1 against Kano Pillars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Seth Mayi
1 for Prince Ebhohon, marked 7.37, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Warri Wolves have gone to El-Kanemi Warriors 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Isioma 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 name of Godstime Edewor has come up in conversations Warri Wolves were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Minute 86, against Bayelsa United, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Alimi 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Warri Wolves have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Warri Wolves did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
1 for Prince Ebhohon, marked 7.56, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Warri Wolves have done the hard part with Remo Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rangers International have kept their man, and Warri Wolves go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wikki Tourists waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Chibueze Lambert has agreed terms with Shooting Stars for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
This is not rotation. Igbunu Evwierhurhoma has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gift Isioma 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 6.55 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
0‑1 against Remo Stars, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
A brace, and Chisom Orji takes the afternoon — 8.90
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Chisom Orji provided it, and the 8.90 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 Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Bendel Insurance were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by 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 Warri Wolves 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 Saturday Erimuya 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. Ikorodu City have kept their man, and Warri Wolves 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. Warri Wolves have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
“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 Warri Wolves, 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.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chibueze Lambert will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Rivers United is saying, and nobody at Warri Wolves is enjoying the guessing.
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Gift Isioma and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Peter Simon to a room that had heard them before.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Warri Wolves have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Wasiu Jimoh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 easiest signature of my career.” Miracle Ukadike and Warri Wolves agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kano Pillars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Everybody at Warri Wolves saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
7.90, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Warri Wolves had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Peter Simon left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Chisom Orji's mistake
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout31 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Peter Simon to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, 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.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chibueze Lambert will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Othuke Egbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 Warri Wolves 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.
Godwin Oham, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 21 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.
Alimi 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.
Half the programme played, position 5, 34 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Peter Simon kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Joseph was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Warri Wolves scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Peter Simon kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
MEAP Nisou have made their interest known and Warri Wolves have to have a conversation they never wanted. A manager other clubs ask about is a manager whose next contract costs more.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
12 combined actions and 6.74. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Peter Simon left the room before anybody could ask which.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chibueze Lambert will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Uche Sabastine was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. 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.
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Peter Simon left the room before anybody could ask which.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves 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 Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 7.31, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Peter Simon could afford to be generous.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Wasiu Jimoh has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Alimi Adebayo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Godstime Edewor will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Wasiu Jimoh 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 in one match, Wasiu Jimoh on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Warri Wolves and Kwara United.
Marked 9.44. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Warri Wolves.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Simon after 3‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Othuke Egbo 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Simon after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Warri Wolves told Othuke Egbo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Chisom Ogbun
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chibueze Lambert will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Micheal Adenodi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Warri Wolves man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Chisom Orji was the best thing in any of them.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Uche Sabastine’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Warri Wolves needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Uche Sabastine is on it.
A brace, and Chisom Orji takes the afternoon — 8.54
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Chisom Orji provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Position 3, 25 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
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.
A 3‑1 win over Bayelsa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Gift Isioma 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Peter Simon could afford to be generous.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Warri Wolves is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves 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 David Joseph was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
91 minutes played. Austin Osayande found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Katsina United went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Austin Osayande scored, was marked 7.95, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 2‑1, Peter Simon could afford to be generous.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Othuke Egbo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Katsina United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Bendel Insurance the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Warri Wolves will enjoy reviewing.
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. 7.82, 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Peter Simon was not hiding it after 3‑3, and nobody in the Warri Wolves dressing room was either.
Squad22 Feb 2027
David Joseph falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Godstime Edewor will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Othuke Egbo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gift Isioma has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Othuke Egbo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Chisom Orji was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Peter Simon on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 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 Warri Wolves 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.
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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match6 Feb 2027
After 4 games, Warri Wolves finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Plateau United; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Niger Tornadoes waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Warri Wolves until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rivers United keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Gift Isioma 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.
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.31, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Prince Ebhohon has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Amatesiro Shemayi 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.67, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Warri Wolves have made the call to Rivers United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Warri Wolves have done the hard part with Remo Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Warri Wolves asked and Bendel Insurance said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Wasiu Jimoh and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rivers United have kept their man, and Warri Wolves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Innocent Orukpe, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Peter Simon to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
SquadAlimi Adebayo falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.83 for the rest of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chibueze Lambert will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Peace Dewan is a Warri Wolves player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Wasiu Jimoh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Warri Wolves
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya 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 Warri Wolves, 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Joseph 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ezekiel Oroh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Warri Wolves 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.
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Eromosele Zibiri is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Warri Wolves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 easiest signature of my career.” Uche Sabastine and Warri Wolves agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Alimi 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.
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 Amatesiro Shemayi 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Joseph 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.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Godwin Oham trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
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 Eromosele Zibiri is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Godwin Oham trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Warri Wolves. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Warri Wolves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Joseph 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 Amatesiro Shemayi is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Warri Wolves. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Micheal Adenodi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Warri Wolves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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 Warri Wolves 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.” Prince Ebhohon and Warri Wolves agree another 4 years.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Warri Wolves are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Joseph was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Warri Wolves 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Warri Wolves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Warri Wolves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Amatesiro Shemayi is on it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Simon after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Godwin Oham
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Godwin Oham has come out of that comparison in the side, and Warri Wolves have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
Wasiu Jimoh 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 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑5 defeat, delivered by Peter Simon to a room that had heard them before.
Beaten 5 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Joseph was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutOthuke Egbo knocks on the manager’s door
Looking aheadWarri Wolves take on the side everybody is chasing
Othuke Egbo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Warri Wolves had all but put away. Enyimba will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Warri Wolves told Othuke Egbo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 3‑3 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
A brace, and Wasiu Jimoh takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Wasiu Jimoh provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Warri Wolves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saturday Erimuya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The offer from Niger Tornadoes for Eromosele Zibiri 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Warri Wolves until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eromosele Zibiri and Warri Wolves agree another 3 years.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Warri Wolves will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Alimi 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Samuel Okon is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Shooting Stars in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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 Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Bayelsa United for Chibueze Lambert 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.
Add another name to the list: Niger Tornadoes have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eromosele Zibiri. The answer from Warri Wolves has not changed — yet.
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.” Eromosele Zibiri and Warri Wolves agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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 Warri Wolves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eromosele Zibiri provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Warri Wolves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Warri Wolves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Igbunu Evwierhurhoma 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.
Wasiu Jimoh and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Warri Wolves and Enyimba in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uche Sabastine provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wikki Tourists waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eromosele Zibiri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Warri Wolves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Eromosele Zibiri has agreed terms with Rivers United for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Warri Wolves asked and Bendel Insurance said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Wasiu Jimoh has, at Warri Wolves, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Warri Wolves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saturday Erimuya 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.
Warri Wolves 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kenneth Olayinka 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aminu Babatunde is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ademola Ademola has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Olayinka Bassey has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Warri Wolves can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Warri Wolves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vincent Edafe and Warri Wolves agree another 4 years.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Ikorodu City had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Eromosele Zibiri has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Warri Wolves.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
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 Simon chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
SquadDavid Joseph falls out with a teammate over standards