Marked for Robert Mboya
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Herit Atariza 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Robert Mboya
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Herit Atariza gets picked when it counts
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 Herit Atariza is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Daniel Odiwuor: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mathare United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Victor Omune and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Douglas Mokaya 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
John Macharia gets picked when it counts
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 John Macharia is on it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Mathare United would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Dennis Mukoye knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mathare United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mathare United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Erick Kipkirui and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Douglas Mokaya was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Mathare United
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Victor Omune in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mathare United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
KCB left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dennis Ouma and Mathare United agree another 3 years.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jacob Onyango 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 dugout28 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Tusker, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad7 Sep 2026
7 saves: Kevin Ouru was the team
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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 10 in, 0 out at Mathare United
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 10 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match5 Sep 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mathare United are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Sep 2026
Mathare United are shipping goals every week
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Erick Kipkirui 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clock did what Kakamega Homeboyz would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout7 Sep 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.