A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mamelodi Sundowns will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 2, 74 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richmond Adeyeye was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mamelodi Sundowns know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mamelodi Sundowns will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Mamelodi Sundowns, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match1 Mar 2036
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Mamelodi Sundowns. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebogang Hlatshwayo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebogang Lorch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Brayan León reports back to Mamelodi Sundowns with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match16 Feb 2036
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Mamelodi Sundowns. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kaizer Chiefs moved on, Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui reports back to Mamelodi Sundowns, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mamelodi Sundowns can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.46 — 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Maritzburg United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Kaizer Chiefs for Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebogang Hlatshwayo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Kaizer Chiefs will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Mamelodi Sundowns were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chippa United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 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 Mamelodi Sundowns can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer from Orlando Pirates for Mpho Chabatsane 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.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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. Mamelodi Sundowns have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebogang Lorch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lirim Jashari 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.
6 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui 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.
Marked 8.39 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lirim Jashari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Youssoupha Sanyang. 3‑1 against Maritzburg United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.47 — 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mokéssé Bamba 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 dugout24 Dec 2035
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Gift Dala, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
4 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.
1 for Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui, marked 7.82, 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Joan Sosa scored, was marked 7.74, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. University of Pretoria spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Mamelodi Sundowns will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Marked 8.11 — 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Michael Dokunmu provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Minute 86, against SuperSport 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lirim Jashari 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 Michael Dokunmu is on it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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 Mamelodi Sundowns and Golden Arrows in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mamelodi Sundowns.
Player ratings5 Nov 2035
Michael Dokunmu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ejike Opara. 1‑0 against Free State Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lirim Jashari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Dokunmu 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 Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui is on it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Mamelodi Sundowns would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
28 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. John Amah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Chances created: 13. The column nobody reads carried the whole story of the match, and his name was at the top of it.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Lirim Jashari 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ibrahima Sory Bangoura has come out of that comparison in the side, and Mamelodi Sundowns have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mamelodi Sundowns can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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. 11 actions, 6.85, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mokéssé Bamba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lirim Jashari is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutMichael Dokunmu has become a man the manager trusts
27 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mamelodi Sundowns can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 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.
24 in and 15 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Kaizer Chiefs for Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui 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.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Squad20 Aug 2035
Teboho Mphela 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.
A 2‑0 win over Maritzburg United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mamelodi Sundowns people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Teboho Mphela 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 easiest signature of my career.” Gift Manyama and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lirim Jashari trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mamelodi Sundowns will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mamelodi Sundowns have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Kaizer Chiefs for Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui 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.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Mphela 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.
Add another name to the list: Shooting Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about John Amah. The answer from Mamelodi Sundowns has not changed — yet.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mamelodi Sundowns, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mamelodi Sundowns will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2035
Lirim Jashari 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.
Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mamelodi Sundowns, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssouf Ndayishimiye 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youssouf Ndayishimiye was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mamelodi Sundowns, another week without a signature from Youssouf Ndayishimiye.
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 Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mamelodi Sundowns, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bongani Billiat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Michael Dokunmu 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Mphela 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 Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mamelodi Sundowns, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bongani Billiat will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Mphela 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.
9 combined actions and 6.92. 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mamelodi Sundowns, another week without a signature from Ibrahima Sory Bangoura.
22 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Jesus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings26 Feb 2035
Michael Dokunmu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kaizer Chiefs moved on, Nail Moutha-Sebtaoui reports back to Mamelodi Sundowns, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibrahima Sory Bangoura and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Mphela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
20 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ajax Cape Town waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal that would have taken Evidence Makgopa to Platinum Stars has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Mamelodi Sundowns with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Ibrahima Sory Bangoura 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.
In brief
SquadA move Lirim Jashari would have made for nothing
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hearts of Oak people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Position 2, 71 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hearts of Oak they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hearts of Oak can pretend not to have heard.
Ntando Tshwana 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 at Hearts of Oak 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hearts of Oak have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hearts of Oak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ntando Tshwana had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko have settled on $2.8M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hearts of Oak can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Hearts of Oak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jul 2034
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ntando Tshwana 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hearts of Oak people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bayer Leverkusen have kept their man, and Hearts of Oak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2034
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ntando Tshwana 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 Dillon Hoogewerf is on it.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inter Allies waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Masr El Makasa for Michael Dokunmu 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Hearts of Oak have had the benefit of 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 Hearts of Oak can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Hearts of Oak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ntando Tshwana was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hearts of Oak people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2034
$2.8M settles it between the clubs for Michel Mboula
Asante Kotoko have accepted the money. What Hearts of Oak do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hearts of Oak they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Patrick Asiedu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Hearts of Oak 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 Hearts of Oak can pretend not to have heard.
Hearts of Oak asked and Asante Kotoko 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 fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Remo Stars moved on, Joshua Baba reports back to Hearts of Oak, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
This is not rotation. Ernest Boateng has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Hearts of Oak is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Words at Hearts of Oak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ntando Tshwana 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 Hearts of Oak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Position 2, 71 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hearts of Oak can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hearts of Oak they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Kouan and Hearts of Oak agree another 2 years.
Michael Dokunmu 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 name of Ernest Boateng has come up in conversations Hearts of Oak were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.