Marked for Simon Munala
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Bongani Cele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Munala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dalphine Omuri, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.99, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bryton Onyona and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bandari scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Bandari leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Okeyo 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 dugout19 Oct 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.” Patrick Kibwage chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dalphine Omuri is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Daniel Kakai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dalphine Omuri. 1‑0 against Sofapaka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Brian Okeyo did the work nobody counts — 6.99
9 combined actions and 6.99. 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Bidco United 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Munala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.65 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Bidco United had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Patrick Kibwage on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match19 Sep 2026
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Posta Rangers were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bryton Onyona and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Simon Munala’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bidco United.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Patrick Kibwage could afford to be generous.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Bidco United have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Peter Wafula
Nobody at Bidco United is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Christopher Raila has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Bidco United 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Bidco United 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bryton Onyona 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Munala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Francis Chege is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Dalphine Omuri arrives from Shabana with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Shabana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Bidco United have done the hard part with Nairobi United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Daniel Kakai 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AFC Leopards have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Tusker, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Munala 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Ulinzi Stars, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Daniel Kakai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Bidco United asked and Ulinzi 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Duncan Onyango 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Victor Muguna 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrick Okoth 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timothy Owusu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Bidco United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.