Marked for Noah Mbamba
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom26 May 2036
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Squad26 May 2036
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Orlando Pirates will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad26 May 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chemsdine Talbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 May 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 May 2036
17 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
The dugout26 May 2036
Matheus Cunha has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orlando Pirates 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.
Market26 May 2036
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market26 May 2036
Noah Mbamba runs his contract down
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Orlando Pirates money.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 May 2036
85 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market5 May 2036
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Orlando Pirates heard it as anything else.
Squad5 May 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 May 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orlando Pirates they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 May 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chemsdine Talbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market5 May 2036
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Boardroom5 May 2036
Wages eat 94% of everything Orlando Pirates earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout5 May 2036
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chemsdine Talbi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad5 May 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Teboho Mokotjo and Orlando Pirates agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Apr 2036
Matheus Cunha 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.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chemsdine Talbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
“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 dugout28 Apr 2036
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.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
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 Chemsdine Talbi is on it.
Market28 Apr 2036
Still no signature from Noah Mbamba
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Orlando Pirates could get for him.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
Junior Olaitan asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market28 Apr 2036
10 appearances in, the average sits at 6.82, and the people who defended him through the autumn are enjoying themselves enormously. Adaptation is a story football only tells backwards.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout14 Apr 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Orlando Pirates may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Apr 2036
“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.
Market14 Apr 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Noah Mbamba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market14 Apr 2036
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Christian Nwachukwu is a Orlando Pirates player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chemsdine Talbi 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.
Squad14 Apr 2036
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Christian Nwachukwu is living that version at Orlando Pirates, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 Apr 2036
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Orlando Pirates know it.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
Noah Mbamba gets it from the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Apr 2036
85 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Squad7 Apr 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Apr 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Chemsdine Talbi 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.
Market7 Apr 2036
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad7 Apr 2036
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Orlando Pirates know it.
The dugout7 Apr 2036
“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.
Boardroom7 Apr 2036
104% of the income goes out in wages at Orlando Pirates
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad7 Apr 2036
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Orlando Pirates have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Mar 2036
Chemsdine Talbi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Mar 2036
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Orlando Pirates know it.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Fallou Cham 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.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Orlando Pirates is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
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.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
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 Chemsdine Talbi is on it.
Market31 Mar 2036
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marcelo Allende has his answer from Orlando Pirates; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
Aboubacar Bah knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aboubacar Bah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match23 Feb 2036
30 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Match23 Feb 2036
13 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.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Defences have started doubling up on Gomolemo Kekana
33 goals and a season average of 7.58 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match20 Feb 2036
A 7‑0 win over SuperSport United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.76, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings25 Feb 2036
Two goals and a mark of 8.36 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market25 Feb 2036
“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 Orlando Pirates, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Feb 2036
Abu Francis has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orlando Pirates they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Noah Mbamba 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Nov 2035
34 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Orlando Pirates may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Nov 2035
“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 Orlando Pirates, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Nov 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando Pirates this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jody Ah Shene 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.
Looking ahead19 Nov 2035
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.
Boardroom19 Nov 2035
Wages swallow 92% of the Orlando Pirates income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
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 dugout19 Nov 2035
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Oct 2035
Lazar Jovanović 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.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Words at Orlando Pirates training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinedine Hasni 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 dugout15 Oct 2035
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.
Market15 Oct 2035
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad15 Oct 2035
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Orlando Pirates has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Looking ahead15 Oct 2035
Maritzburg United next, and one man in the Orlando Pirates dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
“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 dugout15 Oct 2035
Junior Olaitan knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Junior Olaitan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Sep 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Orlando Pirates have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Sep 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orlando Pirates is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market10 Sep 2035
The deal that would have taken Suleiman Camara to Bloemfontein Celtic has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Orlando Pirates with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Lazar Jovanović 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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Noah Mbamba arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Noah Mbamba has, at Orlando Pirates, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Kamogelo Sebelebele 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.
Market10 Sep 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
Lazar Jovanović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orlando Pirates 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 dugout10 Sep 2035
“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.