“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KCB can pretend not to have heard.
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.
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.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at KCB. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Takalani Mazhamba 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. Ebenezer Adukwaw 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.
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 KCB have had the benefit of it.
Takalani Mazhamba 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. Clyde Senaji 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Francis Kahiro signs something — a contract at KCB or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Elvis Ochoro are not good
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on George Amonoo
Gomolemo Kekana, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.43
A mark of 8.43 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ebenezer Adukwaw was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.” Moses Masika, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 11 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Patrick Otieno. 2‑1 against Bandari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ebenezer Adukwaw 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Yafeesi Mubiru 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nashon Wekesa 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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Moses Masika after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against APS Bomet? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Shots: 4. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. KCB will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
In brief
The dugoutGomolemo Kekana is not enjoying his job description
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Elvis Ochoro
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. KCB have done the hard part with Kaizer Chiefs, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gomolemo Kekana. 2‑0 against Sofapaka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Kaizer Chiefs have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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.” Moses Masika, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Posta Rangers go through and KCB go home, 2‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and George Amonoo takes the afternoon — 8.15
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. George Amonoo provided it, and the 8.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Bonphas Munyasa: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The offer from Muranga Seal for Nicholas Kipkirui 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. KCB have done the hard part with Mamelodi Sundowns, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Patrick Otieno was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. 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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kelvin Etemesi provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything agreed with Gor Mahia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Yafeesi Mubiru 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.
KCB have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Moses Masika on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KCB can pretend not to have heard.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicholas Owusu 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Francis Kipkirui 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Patrick Mulee is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Moses Masika could afford to be generous.
Yafeesi Mubiru 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 19. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.