Marked for Bonphas Munyasa
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clyde Senaji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at KCB
Kelvin Etemesi 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Moses Mudavadi and KCB agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Nashon Alembi 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 Nashon Alembi is on it.
Squad29 Nov 2027
The formation has left Moses Mudavadi behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. KCB will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
Silverware for KCB
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Match22 Nov 2027
KCB are top
79 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KCB may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Nov 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. KCB had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. KCB know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad22 Nov 2027
16 clean sheets and the golden glove for Bonphas Munyasa
The one award on the pitch nobody else can win. 16 games in a season in which nobody scored past him, and a career that will be measured against this one.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clyde Senaji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bonphas Munyasa, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Nobody at KCB 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
Triumph
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
KCB have won it
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.
Match10 Nov 2027
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Eshimitu Gomino Eya obliged against Tusker. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is KCB.
Match10 Nov 2027
Cruel end for Tusker as KCB pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. KCB scored in the 110th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Match10 Nov 2027
Nobody wants to play KCB right now
7 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KCB may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Oarabile Booysen, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at KCB
Nashon Alembi 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Clyde Senaji 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 terraces15 Nov 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 Nov 2027
Richard Omondi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KCB they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clyde Senaji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at KCB
Humphrey Mieno 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
Nashon Alembi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at KCB 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Bonphas Munyasa’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Samunya Amatton 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KCB may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KCB is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KCB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Clyde Senaji 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Patrick Otieno
“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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The award goes to Eshimitu Gomino Eya, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Nashon Wekesa named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nashon Wekesa is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Nashon Alembi 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 Nashon Alembi is on it.
Market4 Oct 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Josphat Andafu Mukhwana has his answer from KCB; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KCB is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at KCB
Nashon Alembi 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The name of Arnold Matumele has come up in conversations KCB were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
KCB asked and Posta Rangers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sfundo Shezi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Bonphas Munyasa
“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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Match21 Aug 2027
KCB caught on 86 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Sofapaka scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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 KCB, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KCB may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The deal with Mamelodi Sundowns is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bonphas Munyasa commits to KCB for another 3 years.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
KCB asked and Kaizer Chiefs said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at KCB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nashon Alembi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at KCB
Humphrey Mieno 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The phone has started ringing about Elvis Ochoro again, and this time the name on the line is Shabana. KCB are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Sfundo Shezi beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match2 Aug 2027
KCB refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 59 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bonphas Munyasa commits to KCB for another 3 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at KCB
Nashon Alembi 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 targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tusker have kept their man, and KCB go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at KCB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sfundo Shezi 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“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.